Fate ReLapse
by Newman Projection
Summary: Set after F/Extra for some years. Time has changed. The real world has fallen into despair yet again. The revival of the Moon Cell. Another Holy Grail War has started. Who is at fault? Who shall be the victor? What wish shall be granted? Destruction or Creation. What shall prevail at the end?
1. Prologue

**First things first... Author self-loat- I mean... Author's note.**

 **Hello Newman Projection here. This isn't my first story... I just forgot my username of my previous account and I have to make a new one so yeah. This is my first fate series fanfic though and I don't really have a deep knowledge on the series. I might offend some fans because of this. I apologize. And I'm generally like this. Again, I apologize. Anyways...**

 **Reasons NOT to read this:**

 **-This fic mostly consists of OCs. The number of canon fate characters here can be counted by one hand and two of them aren't even their canon selves.**

 **-As stated above, I do not have a deep knowledge of the fate series and it might offend some. The first game I played is Fate/Extra and I'm still starting on Fate/Zero so yeah. This story is set after Fate/Extra so you can see the resemblance. And no, I haven't played CCC still waiting for translations. (NERO BRIDE)**

 **-Bad writing. I'm more on a tradiational media drawer (heh. Clothes drawer) than a writer. Also, this was written in a tablet so there will be frequent typos and format shenanigans but I'll try to lessen them so I won't get in trouble with the ethics community. Also, if you spot any intolerable typos or grammar errors, please leave a review. Reviews exists for those reasons, and it also makes me happy to receive them... of course flame reviews do not but its part of life.**

 **-Updates are irregular. Aside from frequently running into writer's block, I'm also really busy irl due to university. Seriously, chemistry.**

 **-There WILL be borderline M rated actions. Umm... this is more of an unconscious sublimation so please bear with it. I'm so sorry, please dont kinkshame me.**

 **-This was originally made for a private group of friends so there will be slight references to our experiences. Again, I apologize but please ignore them. I might explain them if the audience asks for it.**

 **That's it for self-loathing. Since this is mostly consisting of OCs especially Servants, you can try guessing who is who just like your first playthrough of Fate/Extra. Don't worry, they're easy to guess. I'll put their profile cards after each elimination battle so everyone can read it afterwards!**

 **With that said, please enjoy.**

* * *

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here except one. All characters belong to their respective owners especially the Fate series. Thank you Nasu for bringing us a great series. May you be blessed._**

* * *

Prologue

-January 27 20XX 5:00-

A blue sky... A bright sun... The clear weather struck his eyes.

Lost by the continuity of time, he awakens. Bizarred, confused and distraught.

Who am I? He shouted.

Where am I? He pleaded

Yet none answered his questions.

Silence filled the room with the lonely boy. No comfort nor despair given to him. Quiet hours ticked by as his heart continued to shout questions. Questions that will never be answered.

However, the boy wanted answers. If none shall answer my questions, I shall search for them myself. Step by step, little by little, did his mind urged him to walk. Walk and gather strength, move and search for his desires.

His arms stretched outward to that window of clear, blue sky. Thin, fragile arms pressed themselves to the glass plane overviewing the whole world. His mind took in vast information from the world below, every profile, every history, every cases filled his knowledge with smooth degree.

9

Data flowed freely into his mind and he closed his eyes, feeling the soft whirring of wisdom into him.

7 Masters

7 Servants

Fight for the Power

Fight for the Grail

1 Pair left.

Scanning past era...Negative

Scanning future era. ...Negative

Scanning current era.

...Positive

Searching potential Master location.

Coordinates confirmed

Searching suited Servant class.

[Saber]

All preparations complete

Engaging. Fate/ReLapse.

* * *

"Okay everyone! We have a new transfer student, make sure to greet her warmly alright?"

"Okaaay!"

The orange haired teacher waved her hand to the red haired girl, smiling to come in and get to know with the rest of the class. The girl walked to the stage with uncontainable excitement, her face sparkling up bright and her eyes shone with a huge glint of hope. Her hair bounced up and down at her movements, softly weaving through the air behind her and smoothly settles at her back as she turned to her new classmates.

"I'm Rachelle Ray Borham! I just transferred here in Tsukumihara academy last week so my entrance today is a bit off scheduled. That said, pleased to meet y'all!"

The audience clapped their hands with the same energy after she ended. With a finishing stroke, the teacher behind Rachelle finished writing her full name at the board and turned to the class.

"Rachelle here came from abroad that's why she was delayed in her education and had to be transferred here. Nevertheless, isn't it great that you have new classmate everyone?"

Loud, simultaneous affirmations came out from the voices of the class, increasing its energy level to a high degree.

"Pleased to meet you all too!"

"I'm Taiga Fujimura, you can call me Taiga anytime if that is too long. I'm your homeroom teacher, science teacher, writing teacher, math teacher, comprehension teacher, economics teacher and your physical education instructor!"

Rachelle's face contorted into a bizarre expression. Wasn't that all of her subjects? Why was Ms. Fujiwara the only teacher of all her classes? Now that she think about it, she didn't see any other teachers in the campus aside from her. How peculiar... Rachelle started speculating on why was the system like this from a strange vacation to an undercover secret deal. However, she remembered one vital quote that she had always done whenever she does not know anything.

Do not assume, ask.

With the agreement in mind, Rachelle prepared her words and opened her mouth. As she was about to voice out her inquiries...

"Hey."

When the large clacking of the sliding door caught everyone's attention.

"Don't let it get to you transfer student. You'll only get more confused than ever."

"Hey Tohsaka! You're late again!"

The teacher bursted out in anger towards to the late girl who only huffed annoyingly in response. Rachelle's bizarred mind immediately overrided every inquiry she has to say to the teacher and turned towards the door and looked at the late comer's features.

Black, wavy pigtails hanged from the sides of her head, tied with two jet black ribbons that seemed to be done from cloth manually. Her eyes shared the same shade of black with her hair and a white, unscarred face with a slight blush clearly showed her roots within the oriental country and its charming aspects. Thin waist and fit muscles that was obviously trained in exercise furthers that perfect image of a haughty Japanese princess in fiction, unblemished and uncontested.

However, something bothers the transfer student. If someone were to look at this young girl with the exception of sexual perversion, one would firstly comment on her clothes. That over-all red, courageous impression of her covers. A white cross runs across the whole middle of her long detached sleeved garment ending right above her navel, reminding Rachelle vaguely of a peculiar shrine maiden clothes as a first impression. Her black skirt had two holes at its side, its purpose unknown aside from aesthetic means of dressing up yet it does look breezy if one would wear it. The same holes exists at the two ends of her top garment, again Rachelle does not know what its purpose om the cloth aside from aesthetic needs and letting in wind to touch her skin at hot times.

Why red? Why was this girl wearing something other than the required uniform? Normally this would be attributed to teenage delinquency but Rachelle felt it was something else. Something unexplainable to her.

"U-Umm... Pleased to meet you, Ms. Tohsaka." Courteously, Rachelle greeted the red-clad classmate. However...

Cold glare and icy disdain met the new girl's warm greeting that made her step a cautious step back. One sided hostility filled the air between them, the temperature dropped along with Tohsaka's piercing stare towards Rachelle.

Silence.

Unbreakable silence.

A few seconds settled with that air of animosity before a loud 'hmph' coming from the black haired girl broke the silence, and turn her back against the room.

"Don't get chummy with me newcomer. You'll never know when we might be enemies."

"Hey, Tohsaka Rin!"

Leaving a vague statement behind, Tohsaka closed the door and walked off to somewhere within the campus. The class remained in that broken glass silence. What just happened? Rachelle could not comprehend why someone would be that hostile against her. Was it something she said? Her clothes? Her face? Did she offend her somehow?

It was all too peculiar.

"A-Anyways..! Rachelle, your seat is at the the 3rd row near the windows. Y-You're fine with that right?"

Taiga's voice snapped the new transfer girl out of her thoughts. Immediately, Rachelle nodded in a slighty hasty manner and gave an awkward laugh to the question. With that settled, the transfer girl picked up her handbag and rushed towards her assigned seat.

She did not want to make enemies within her first day. More like... She wanted to befriend everybody. .

...Looks like she has a lot to do just to accomplish that.

* * *

Two days has passed...

School life has progressed well for the new transfer student. The transfer student quickly adapted to the light hearted nature of the school and its occasional quirks and downs. The general happy atmosphere of a general high schooler.

"Are you going home yet, RRB?"

Rachelle's classmates asked in which the transfer student replied with a gentle shake of the head and stated legit reasons for her actions. Exploring the school after classes is one of her favorite hobbies, even if it means she forgets to check the time and sees the sun set when she comes out. For the past 2 days, she has successfully acquired first-hand information of the nurse office, the library and the garden without getting caught by Ms. Taiga who is adamant on sending the students back home on time.

It wasn't an easy sneaky mission. Taiga had the eyes and nose of a hunting tiger when it comes to her students, she had to hide a couple of times just to avoid her sight. Couple of times felt like life and death situations to her if she would comment on it.

With polite affirmations and slightly disappointed looks, the group of classmates left the premises leaving the red haired girl alone.

Peaceful silence,

Comfortable tranquility settled within the room along with the soft shuffling of the girl's bag as she prepared her academic materials for the next day. Days in this school are nice... Everyone is nice with a few exceptions here and there, the teacher is welcoming and the overall aesthetic views of the school are pleasing... Yet for some reason there's a nagging feeling in her.

Something she feels she should know intimately.

This won't do anything good. Rachelle thought as she jumped out from her seat and did a couple of stretches.

"Where should I go today?"

* * *

Running, tapping steps along with the jingling of a small bell echoed throughout the hallway. It's my lucky day! Taiga isn't anywhere! Is what Rachelle thought as she paced hastily hroughout the whole school, finding a place to settle and relax. She already explored the garden and its beautiful flowers yesterday, the library was peaceful but she'd rather go somewhere she won't easily fall asleep, and the nurse office is out of the question since the school nurse, Sakura Matou, was inside.

Somewhere... She wants to find somewhere.

Suddenly, her lithe footsteps halted and her gaze turned to a small building outside the school.

The archery range...? Her old school doesn't have that kind of facility, how interesting.

With a carefree smile and a pumped energy, Rachelle dashed towards unto her new destination for the day. The archery range.

* * *

"Excuse me..."

Rachelle said in a low, whispering tone. Although she says her excuses, the girl knew that no one could have possibly stayed behind in school except for her. After all, a tiger's ferocious anger is one of the most scariest thing for students like her. She shudders to think on how would anyone be willing to invoke the anger of the deadly teacher.

Someone with large masochistic tendencies probably.

With a small, light push, the door creaked open revealing a small portion of the wooden built traditional room. The woody, refreshing smell of cypress and oak wood wafts out of the room and instantly hits the senses of Rachelle, enticing and charming her to go further in the room to investigate.

Careful steps did the transfer student take. No sounds, no tremors resounded, as silent as the dead of the night.

Or atleast that's how she wanted.

"Who goes there?"

Rachelle's shoulders jolted upwards in utter surprise. She was sure she was quiet, how did someone find her?

"If you're thinking on how I found you then that's easy. I was facing the door when you opened it, I would be brain dead if I did not see that thing move, you idiot."

Rachelle peeked at the other side of the door, half-embarrased and half curious to who owns that smooth, masculine voice. Her eyes laid upon the unknown male's eyes, blood red gaze met jet black irises. Her heart skipped a beat by the beauty and charisma radiated by this Adonis in front of her.

Slick, long black hair that runs perfectly around his diamond-shaped face, his bangs parted skillfully with an elegant style avoiding , his glasses covered irises. His build runs between the border of average and thin yet his skinny arms show enough strength that could crush an apple with one hand. His clothes to consist of the usual archery uniform but Rachelle wonders what he would look like if he wore his everyday clothes

...Or maybe a birthday suit.

"Hmph... Is my body that marvelous to see? What a strange perverted intruder

"W-What?"

Playful grin paints the face of the male as Rachelle's grew an intense blush reddening her whole face. A pervert?! How dare he! It wasn't my fault he's beautiful! Truth to be told, she was staring pretty hard at him without speaking so it was not that far from the truth.

"Heh. Anyways, if you don't have any business here I suggest you leave. This is Taiga's homebase and its impossible for you to hide from her if you stay here. Huh, then again that NPC could be easily hacked and rewritten, big deal."

Huh? NPC? Hacked? Rewritten?

"...I guess from that look of ignorance you still don't know it yet huh? Well, it's none of my business."

Flipping his hair backwards, he walked past the bewildered Rachelle with a suspiciously downing expression. He quickly grabbed the coat from the hangers and draped it over his shoulders, uncaring yet extremely charismatic of his movements.

"Another unworthy... How pitiable."

And he left, whispering an ominous statement to the air as his steps faded from the wooden grounds.

Two people. Two people already said ominous statements within their back. Rachelle's curiousity grew even stronger, what did Tohsaka mean by "You'll never know when we might be enemies"? What did that male whisper about being 'unworthy' and 'pitiable'?

Questions, questions without answers. But Rachelle felt she knows the answer within her, she just can't remember.

I want answers.

She clenched her fist against her chest.

But how?

The sun sets as the curtains for the stage slowly rises.

* * *

Three days has passed...

Tsumikahara's library boasts its vast collection of information from simple literature pieces, complicated science formulas to highly advance physical mathematics all while compiled into a small section of the building's second floor. Along with the major subjects are extremely detailed atlases, history books, maps and other various reading materials brought for either miscellaneous researches or just plain leisure reading.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that every information you need is in the library.

Which is exactly why a red-headed girl is currently shuffling through the shelves with a piercing concentration, in search of something vague and unspecific, even for her. Rachelle has been a customer of the library ever since her meeting with the unknown male at the archery range.

Ominous, highly suspicious words replays every day at her mind only to raise more questions and none of the answers. We might be enemies... Unworthy... Pitiable... She knew it was something deep, even deeper than what it looks like without the conspiracy theories.

However, how will she know what they mean if she can't even see the head of it in the abyss?

Am I perhaps overthinking it?

Rachelle shook her head off that thought. While the chances she's overthinking it is true, something inside her keeps on chewing her mind that tells the opposite. A deeper meaning, some sort of clue, something that she should know intimately yet she cannot.

 _Relapse... War... Destroy..._

"Huh?"

The girl turned around suddenly, facing her back with nothing but air. She could have swore there was a voice just now, did she imagine it?

No, it was loud and clear in her ears. Three words that holds no current meaning.

"Relapse... War... Destroy...?"

"Umm..."

A voice called Rachelle's attention, snapping her out of her mono thoughts and turning her attention to its owner.

"I'm sorry... C-Could you please move? I-I need to return this book."

A young brown haired boy with a short stature of not more than 5"5 meekly peeked through his long bangs while clutching a pile of old, white, books against his chest. His fingers fidgeted anxiously, his knees turned to each other as he cowered within Rachelle's non-hostile but endearing stare.

"Oh! I'm sorry, please go ahead!"

The transfer girl immediately stepped back, letting the young boy pass by her while muttering a soft 'thank you' to the red head. Rachelle watched the young boy as he carefully placed each one of the books carefully and precisely.

His fingers are long and thin, obviously stuck to the processed paper keeping it from flying everytime his eyes wander into the fiction of his reads. His black, oversized sweater, covered most of his body from his white neck down to the bottom of his buttocks. Large sleeves extends from his shoulders up to the first joint of his fingers, as if covering and hiding from the eyes and glares of the world around him. Rugged, hem-folded jeans extends down to his legs and stops at his black and white sneakers, with its laces neatly tied and tucked in the strings of the shoes.

This shy boy dresses so thickly and so covertly. She wonders why he is so reserved when most of the people around his age are extroverted, sociable individuals, some to the point of obnoxiously noises.

"Umm... Sis, y-you're staring at me pretty hard. I-It's embarassing."

"Uwah...?! Was I...? Did that make you uncomfortable?"

A small nod. Suddenly, Rachelle felt all guilty and embarassed against this child.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm Rachelle Ray Borham or RRB for short. Some pronounce it as Ruby or Robby, but the choice is up to you. Nice to meet you... Umm...?"

Awkward silence settles for a couple of minutes with the young boy fidgeting shyly like a cornered rabbit against a tiger. Suddenly the guilt and embarassment weighed heavier on Rachelle's shoulders. Did she make a wrong impression somehow?

"N-Noir..."

"Hm?"

"N-Noir Eclair... Is my name... Nice to meet you too... RRB sis..."

Sparkle! Rachelle's eyes sparkled with glee and happiness. She got accepted! Now she doesn't have to feel a whole weight of guilt for stressing this young boy out!

She smiled a wide grin to the young boy who replied with his signature mouse-like shyness and meekly nodded. The air between them still feels a bit awkward. A topic... Maybe a topic fond to him will do?

Rachelle glanced at the line of neatly placed, white books. Books...? He did put them there, I wonder what they are.

"What were you reading a while ago, Noir? It looks plenty for someone of your age."

With a swift motion, the red-haired girl pulled out one of the white books and flipped its pages randomly.

"W-Wait! Sis!"

She stopped at one page and with a smile at her face, she read a passage.

Drip...

At that time, at that place, when the ever shining sun continue to shine its face... That red lava of blood erupted from Rachelle's nostrils along with the shattering sound of her glass innocence.

 _"Lilies bloomed wildly in that dark night, gasping,_

 _Moaning their lust and passion into the moon_

 _Bodies glistened with sweat under the moonlight_

 _Royaled by Luna_

 _The Queen resumed to lick her lover's cavern_

 _With her long and skillful tongue, soft and mellow_

 _They sang their love and passion throughout the night_

 _A song by Eros."_

"T...This is...! Isn't this a bit too mature for your age?!"

"S-Sis! Wipe your nose first!"

Never in her life would Rachelle thought that a boy younger than her, would be taking care of her, wiping her disgraceful nosebleed with his own hankerchief, due to reading homoerotica work at a school library. Still for a young boy like him to read this...

"And I'm at the same age as you sis."

Wait what?

"...What?"

"I'm just shorter compared to others but I'm legitly the same age as you, RRB sis."

...

"Sis?"

"W-Wait this is hard for me to take in. So... E-Even so... Aren't this a bit too mature for someone of our age?! B-Besides, what are these doing in a school library?!"

With a sharp expression and a stiff pointer finger, Rachelle struck an emphasized pose like a certain bizarre animation series beginning to lecture the young Noir with her inexperienced mind. The young... No... The teenage boy only replied with a reaction face, his shyness and meekness all blown away from the current events.

"I brought them in of course! This library can bring in all kinds of books with just a single talk with the administrator or a student council member!"

"Nani the fuck?! That's clearly indecent!"

"It's not! Sappho's works are the epitome of pure, unadulterated, blazing love. Distilled from the hardships of life and the despair of death, the Queen and her female servant struck down the barriers of gendered relationships and freely expressed their love for each other by heart and by body! It's a deep work of art that an inexperienced child like you wouldn't understand!"

"Wha- I'm the child right now?!"

"Yes you are!"

"Like hell it is!"

"Yes it is!"

Sparks of rage flew betweem the two as their eyes locked together in a fierce competition of glaring. Eyebrows knitted together, teeth gnashed with each other, blood red competed with brown irises. Their aura flamed around them, turning the temperature into its highest degrees with the boils of blood clearly resounded at the background behind the two. A natural calamity and disaster await!

"Pfft... Ahaha..."

"...?"

Suddenly, the red-haired girl laughed. A carefree laughter, no sign of the earlier hostility nor the rage of blood that seemed to explode. Her cheeks swelled up to a grin , light blush colors her face, as tears formed around her eyes in that heartful chuckle.

Noir tilted his head questioningly at first until he followed Rachelle's lead and laughed heartily with her. Two teenagers fighting over the indecentness of a book in a library, how typically stupid over a trivial thing yet...

That's what makes teenagers, teenagers. Stupidity over the smallest things.

Soon, the laughter died down and Rachelle wiped her eyes gently with her fingers. She grinned at the short teenager who also smiled back in a friendly and unreserved manner to her. Friendship born from awkward moments and an explosive event. Human relationships are more spontaneous than one could ever expect.

"Whoo... It's been a while since I laughed like that! Refreshing!"

She stretched her body, showing off the "refreshed" feeling she's having.

"Yeah... By the way RRB sis..."

"Hm?"

"What were you looking for a while ago? I might help in finding it since I have read every book in this library. I've been here since day 1 after all."

Day 1? He never attended class? Somehow that struck as weird to Rachelle but for now she didn't mind it as a particular statement captured her attention more.

Although, what she wants to find was something really vague even for her. What made those two say such mysterious words to her? What is that something that keeps on nagging her to remember them? What do those 3 words that she heard actually mean?

It's all too peculiar, too bizarre, too illogical, how would she even start searching for something she doesn't even know exactly? This is even beyond stabbing in the dark, it was like diving deep down the abyss with no light or sun to return her back to the known. However...

Even a mortal human can feel his way in the abyss to guide itself against the blunted rocks,

Perhaps... Noir could tell her something about 'Relapse' 'War' 'Destroy'?

"I don't know myself... Do you know something about 'relapse' 'war' and 'destroy'?"

"Hmmm..."

The short boy closed his eyes and thought deeply, humming a sound to help him concentrate on remembering his photographic memories.

"I can't say I know a book that has a topic around all 3 of those but... If its just "war" then we could narrow it to something very specific."

A lead! Rachelle's attention turned to Noir in a full throttle. Her first lead to finally figuring out what the hell is going on! She needs to listen to this carefully.

"3 things come into my mind. First, you might be talking about history books retelling the summaries and events of previous and various wars around the world. Just like, the Trojan War or the World War II."

A historical event? No, she was pretty sure that was not it. She gets the feeling it was something current, something happening right now.

"Second, you might be talking about a literary piece which revolves around a war or at least the concept of war. I know some pieces about those but I can't say I'm too fond of it, if its what you're looking for then I can suggest you some titles or pieces."

A literary piece... No, she is sure she wasn't fond of war genre just like Noir and she wouldn't have this much nagging feeling if its just a want for something to pass time. It was something realistic, something she needs to know for her life,

"Third... Well..."

A pause. Noir paused for a long time before continuing on. Continuing on something really bizarre and unrealistic even for most of the fiction that Rachelle had heard.

"The Holy Grail War. The event we are currently on and the ultimate battle that, we as talented people, has the privilege to participate and fight for the all-granting Holy Grail. Several Holy Grail Wars happened in the past and the current number of its occurence is unknown due to the appearance of deviant timelines along with the revival of the Moon Cell. RRB sis... Are you perhaps...?"

"...W-What?"

Wait...

Wait! What did Noir just said? A Holy Grail War? A war for some all-granting grail? There's no way that exists right? It sounds like it came straight from an anime or a light novel. Either way, it's too unrealistic, too surreal! That shouldn't be the answer Rachelle was looking for! But...

Why is her mind screaming at her to remember that info? Remember about... The Holy Grail war?

"I see... By that face, you still don't know huh?"

"What... What should I know? Hey... Tell me..."

The previous healthy, cheeky color of Rachelle's face turned into a deathly, white chalky pale color in an instant. Cold sweat rolled down her forehead and neck, her hands won't stop shaking nervously, and her legs struggled to keep her upright and prevent her from collapsing to the floor.

Why am I shaking?

I feel sick.

What is happening?

Is this perhaps...?

"RRB sis..."

The previous air dampened into a gloomy, ominous atmosphere. Noir looked down to his feet and bit his lower lip in frustration. What should I do? What could I do? Uncomfortable silence settled between the two, not a word, not a breath to be said.

The school bell rang, signalling the end of the day for the higher classes. Large voices started to come out into the hallways, pouring their random, chattering noises into the school's space. Footsteps pattered their way into the listening ears and lightening the air with the joys of dismissal.

Except for one part of the library.

Rachelle stood completely silent before raising her head slightly to speak. Noir did the same, catching his attention with the transfer girl's movements.

"O-Oh... It's dismissal... I have to go... Home..."

"Sis..."

"Thanks Noir, I'll see you tomorrow."

Rachelle turns to the side and started to take steps towards the library door. Every trudge felt so heavy, it's as if her legs felt like lead. Her energy is completely drained and her head is constantly pounding.

Perhaps it was wrong for me to question it.

I should go home... Home...

...Where..?

"Sis wait!"

The red haired girl felt a tug at her blouse as she was about to exit the library. She turned around, facing the source of the voice and saw Noir, holding a white, spring coiled logbook at his arms. The teenage boy took a deep breath and held the book in front of Rachelle, much to the confusion of the girl.

"Here... This is what helped me understand what is going on. Maybe... Just maybe, RRB sis could find something about her there!"

Find something about her?

"I wish... You get your memories back as soon as possible! Then... Goodbye!"

And the teenage boy rushed out of the library, forcing the logbook at Rachelle's hands. The transfer student followed his vanishing trail with her eyes for a few moments before turning to the logbook she was just given.

Find... Something about her huh?

She opened the first page of the logbook. Tsumikahara Academy Student Registry.

Of course, why didn't she think about that? If she wanted to know what those two students meant, shouldn't she search about their profiles in the first place? For the first time in her life, Rachelle has never felt so stupid than this time.

She opened to the page of Tohsaka Rin. A picture, basic biography info, typical stuff you would find in a student registry. However, what surprised Rachelle was the pages after that mundane information.

Most student registries file a short background profile on the student, usually general information like family, home place or some previous personal experiences. But at this time, when Rachelle was supposed to find Tohsaka's Rin profile...

Nothing. Pure blank whiteness. Absolutely no information about her.

Her hands tightened a bit. What did this mean? Perhaps Tsumikahara did not want to pry into student background and left it? No, if that was the case why did they leave blank pages that seemed for the intention of recording student profiles?

"How suspicious..."

Rachelle muttered to herself as she flipped to more of the pages. Every student, every person was the same. Only their names and mundane info was written down but nothing of their profiles nor a mention of their birthplace.

The same went by when she flipped to her own registry. Rachelle Ray Borham. Age 17. Transferred to Tsumikahara Academy on January 20XX. That was all the information.

Nothing, absolutely nothing on the next pages. She turned the pages in a frantic manner, almost appearing like she was tearing them off one by one until...

"...Something fell out."

Rachelle whispered as she bended down and picked up the small piece of paper at the floor. Her eyes examined the piece of parchment that honestly looks like some sort of trash in hindsight.

Numerous patterned lines are inked at the paper, hardly random yet the patterns doesn't make any sense at all. She looked at it more carefully and saw a tiny red circle contrasting the different black lines crossing the whole paper with parallels and perpendiculars yet never intersecting.

Perhaps this is a map? But to where?

She examined the whole school and knew that no place within the campus looks like the map she is currently holding. Maybe she was mistaken? No... It came from a suspicious source so it might have some meaning.

The sun sets outside the windows, filling the room with a vibrant reddish-orange color. Rachelle tucked the small paper safely in her pocket and gazed at the setting sun before her eyes.

Such a beauty holds so many mysteries. She wonders if she could find the answers before the sun never rises again.

The sun falls, the curtain rises. Let the stage of the play begin.

* * *

A day has passed...

"W...What..."

Static, loud static filled her senses and flooded her mind. The whole room looked black and white in her eyes, the ear shattering feedback made it impossible for her to know anything, her mind suffered in agony as time passes slowly with the bizarre television static plastered into her.

Her heartbeat is quick, her breathing is ragged, her head feels light headed, her body is in pain. What is happening? This shouldn't be happening in a plane called reality.

"I feel... Sick... I need... To get out..."

Rachelle walked limply towards the door of the room. Not even a single eye bat at the pained posture of the transfer girl, merely empty eyes and empty shells chattering to themselves filled the classroom and space like some sort of static program. With a forced push, Rachelle slid the door out of the way and was immediately greeted by a gruesome scream.

"AAAAAAAH SOMEBODY HELP!"

"Gghk..! Graaaaaaahhhhh!"

"No... NOOO!"

A terrible scene played out in front of Rachelle's eyes. A giant blue haired man, clad in a golden bordered armor and a burnt cape grabbed the screaming young male student by his limbs and ripped his body apart like a child's broken doll. Joints loudly popped in the air, blood sprinkled throughout the floor, the multitude of terrified screams multiplied in volume as the blue haired man continued to howl and laughed madly at its work.

"That's fine Berserker... Just do what you want... Hm?"

A young woman, almost like a child, with long silver hair tied in pigtails and cloth in purple clothes and white shoes looked at Rachelle's petrified look while standing beneath the shadow of the mad behemoth.

"You..."

In an instant Rachelle's instincts kicked up and her body started to move at her unknown will. She has to get out, she has to get somewhere safe, or else she'll be killed like that boy!

She jumped above the railings of the stairs and rushed past through the steep stairs. Numerous screaming and bizarre scenes played out in front of Rachelle's static filled mind. A black haired guy with a shining, long bow and arrow... A dark skinned guy with the same aura yet is holding a staff and seemed to procure fire from it to burn the remaining students at the floor for unknown reasons.

What is happening?! Somebody tell me what's going on!

Rachelle shouted and pleaded at her mind. Her soul screams of the desire to live, her mind screams for the desire of answer, her body screams for the desire of safety, she wants the knowledge to understand the events around her, oh how will she find the answer?

 _Fire exit..._

Huh?

 _First floor... Fire exit... That's the first room... You should go... Rachelle..._

A strange voice echoes at her mind, giving her weirdly clear instructions on where she should go. Saying she has no doubts on what the voice is saying is a large mistake in itself however...

"I... I have no choice but to follow it!"

With a quick turn and a fast brake, Rachelle faced the direction of the left wing of the building and started dashing mad for the fire exit. Noise filled her head, the howls screamed all together in this chaotic environment, the static grew stronger and heavier as she neared the door. The red headed girl closed her eyes and gave a final push.

She jumped for the door, hoping she would hit the metal and wake herself up from this dream...

Yet it did not came.

"Huh?"

Suddenly her mind felt clear and totally refreshed. Rachelle looked up and saw an otherworldly blue room with various stacks of flasks, books, artifacts and a glowing blue circle at the corner of it.

"I never saw this room before... Wait... Was it even here before?"

Rachelle muttered to herself as she explored the room. The walls of room looks abnormal by itself, digital blue lines ran across its length, parallel and perpendicular but never intersecting. The books on the shelf looks like it was from ancient times, rotted and decayed through the passage of time yet still holds its value of worth when read. It was like a whole new world suddenly appeared before her.

"Are this... Original?"

Rachelle picked up a dusty book and flipped through its pages. The book is full with highly detailed cursive lines and english words she could not comprehend but she had a feeling in her mind that she knows what that book is but not of its use to her.

"The catalyst that is able to turn copper into gold... The Philospher's Stone."

The girl recited the lines in her unconscious mind as she looked upon a shining gem floating in a flask made of glass. She doesn't know why she knew that information nor will she know why she knows those words. Everything around her seemed so familiar yet so different, what exactly is this room? Why does she know its secret?

Rachelle scanned the whole of the room and its tables with pure concentration and focus. She brought up a hand to her chest and closed her eyes momentarily.

The sheets of Requiem, a yew arrow, the chipped sword of a great foot soldier, a blueprint of the perfect human being, a red, ominous spear of Irish craftmanship.

Everything in this room was in her stock knowledge, every bit of detail and information about an object seems familiarly stored within her. She has a lot of questions regarding this knowledge, questions which she knew there won't be an immediate answer.

"Hm? What is this..."

Her eyes laid upon a white shard laying upon a red cloth. Curiousity fills her mind and Rachelle's hand reached out to pick up the object.

"Ow!"

Rachelle let out a voice as she felt her skin being pricked. The shard was sharp in one edge and slowly, Rachelle's blood seeped in at the piece of material. It felt like chalk, some kind of fossil? Was it something's bone? Or was it someone's?

"..."

With a careful movement, she wrapped the small shard with its red cloth and quietly tucked it in her pocket. Why did she take it? She doesn't understand herself but she had a feeling... An instinct that she had to take that shard no matter what.

"Well... It can't hurt right?"

Rachelle whispered to herself and scanned the room. Nothing currently useful to her, she can't take any random items so she'll leave for now. The red haired girl turned away from the table and walked towards the glowing circle at the corner of the room.

 _Go... Accept... Fate..._

...

With a hesitant step, Rachelle moved forward to the circle and felt an overpowering sensation. She closed her eyes in reflex and let her body move out through the very concept of time and space. Every fiber of her being, decomposed and recomposed all over in an endless cycle, her mind flowed through the unending warp of the wormhole, until everything stops all of a sudden.

Rachelle opened her eyes and saw the distorted sky above an urban area. Dark blue night, detoriated into gradual black specks of data, the moon shone so eerily bright along with the dark stars of the night and the unsettling silence of the atmosphere.

Cracked asphalt laid at her feet with weeds growing in it, its roots taken place at the heart of the soil, unwavering and unleaving. Traditional looking houses lined at the side of the still road. Quiet and creepy sat those double layered wooden houses with grid patterned paper windows and square shaped long doorways. Plant ornaments littered the whole of the residences but even its vibrant color was faded into grey by the surreal atmosphere of this world.

Rachelle walked cautiously, scanning the whole of the road and the little alleys hidden at its dark shadows. Everything looks so real yet unreal. Darkness looms at every corner and the eerie atmosphere made it worse as it chills her down to the bone. She shivered and held her coat closer to her skin in a desperate attempt to stay warm.

"Where should I go?"

She whispered silently into nothingness and clutched the pockets of her coat.

*krish*

Hm? Rachelle heard a sound at her pocket for a brief moment and stuck her hand into it, grabbing a piece of paper within it.

The map.

She unfolded the paper and looked at the little piece of detailed map. Still the same as ever, a huge space near the end of the edge, with little lines running to its side blackened with thick ink and finally ending in a huge circle with a red x at its center.

Parallels and perpendiculars, but never intersecting.

"Wait... Isn't this?"

Rachelle turned to her right and held the piece of paper at her eye level. She aligned the huge space with the end of the road and traced the small branches of it with the alleys of the road. It fits perfectly.

So that's why she did not recognize that layout in any part of the school. It was a map for that otherwordly dimension she was thrown to.

"Hmm... Guess I have no choice."

She doesn't know where the map would take, she doesn't know if its even safe for her to follow that damned piece of paper. However...

At wits' end, even a man would push power to take that remaining spider thread.

With a slightly brisked pace, Rachelle trudged on that broken asphalt road going nowhere, finding somewhere. Tall, walls of bricks and wood towered all around her average build. Murky, dark fog obscured more of her sight, making it almost impossible to traverse. However she did not stop, Rachelle continued to walk until she reached a clearing of a dense forest.

An urban area then a forest, huh.

The red haired girl continued to walk within the dense forest. For dense forest, it has a pretty clear set of road on where to walk. Trees stood aside the path, looming and looking menacing yet also provides a strange sense of protection to her. Rachelle looked up to the trees as her feet moved on. She had always liked marveling at nature, even in a distorted world beauty still remains in some of its parts.

"Woah..."

Her steps halted suddenly, her mouth gaped dryly and her eyes reflected the aqua blue light glowing from the intricately designed circle at the ground in front of her feet. A large, patternized circle of squares and lines sat quietly within the center of the forest as if waiting for something or someone to activate it with some sort of bizarre spell.

Rachelle clutched her chest tightly as she stared at the magic circle. Her heartbeat quickens and increases its volume, her palms started to sweat and shake from an unknown reason, her feet becomes unsteady at its sight, struggling to stay still and not rush in the center of it in impulse.

Why do I feel like... I know of this before?

With a careful step, Rachelle walked towards it, curious and wanting of the knowledge hidden beneath that swirling energy of magic. She crouched down at the center of the circle and placed a hand at the middle of it. Runic language started to circle around Rachelle in a blurring speed, impossible to follow with a normal human eyes and will trump most of the linguists existing around the world.

However, the red haired girl watched every word passed through her eye like clockwork. No, she doesn't know why she can read those nor how she can follow those blurring speed of lines. Her whole week was full of mysteries about her and the events... And this is the only the first step.

"Your flesh... Is under me... My fate... shall be in your sword..."

The runic language started to glow even stronger, the swirling mass of energy started to expand even more that the trees around them waved in a highly erratic manner.

"...Submit to the beckoning... Of the Holy Grail.."

The energy bursted into flames with Rachelle at the center. A small piece of cloth removed itself from her pocket, without her noticing due to the concentration she has on reading.

"Answer,... If you would submit to this will and-"

*growl*

"Eh?"

Rachelle whipped her head quickly to the sound, stopping her careful reading and paled in fear. Red, glowing, canine eyes glared at her from the shadows of the forest. Growling, hostile, feral wolves stepped our from the darkness one by one, their mouths dripping with thick saliva and their sound clearly showing no intent of being tamed.

The red haired girl stood up and stared fearfully at the wolves. What should I do? I don't think I can run away from them.

Suddenly, the energy surrounding Rachelle bursted into a pillar of light. The wolves stepped back a bit, some of them howled loudly, the trees waved their leaves away from the light source and Rachelle screamed in surprise as she crouched down and guarded herself.

The light continued to shine up through the heavens and the sky. The pillar merged, condensed, and packed into more, blinding the wolves and Rachelle from their sight, leaving them stunned and paralyzed at whatever is going on around them.

"What... This is the first time I've been summoned and its already like this? The preliminaries are much more deadly than what I thought."

The soft sound of stepping on grass catches the attention of the red haired girl and she turns to the source of the sound with her arm shielding her eyes from the painful glare of the light. She could only discern the person's feet from the current conditions. Woven, flat sandals adorned the person's feet as his or her whole leg was wrapped in tight, rugged bandages except for the joints' part. The person tapped the toes of his or her feet towards the ground in an annoyed manner as an impatient thinking sound comes from his or her throat.

"So... You there with the red hair."

"Y-Yes...?"

"Are you the one who summoned me? Are you my Master?"

Uhh... What? Rachelle tilted her head to the side in reply to the question. However, she didn't have time to think about it as a black blur of fur swiped down from her side, scratching her clothes and torn off the hem of her sleeve in an instant.

"Kyaaaaa!"

"Hmm... Those wolves are getting impatient, and the summoning light is dying down. I'll ask once again, are you my Master?"

Master? What the hell is this person talking about?! As Rachelle screamed that in her mind, more of the wolves started lunging towards her in a frightening manner. Rabid, salivating wolves, this day can't get any worse!

"I... I..."

Rachelle clenched her fist in a tight ball and shouted at the person.

"I don't know what the hell are you talking about but if you can save me from these wolves then fine! I will be your Master!"

"Well said... Contract confirmed, forming Command Seal. Nice to meet you, Master. "

The light has died down enough for the red haired girl to fully see the person from head to toe. The person was wearing tattered, brown trousers with a huge sheath belt along its waistband. A white, aged shirt with short sleeves covered the entirety of his lean torso while the lower part of the cloth was tucked snugly in the band of the trousers he wears. A red neckerchief adorned around the base of his neck like necklace, showing off a sense of courage and valor within the person's aura.

Rachelle moved her eyes from his clothes and looked at the person's body itself. His arms are also covered in the same rugged bandages as with his legs, defining and showing off the lean muscles worked up in his biceps and triceps effectively. While she can't see his face as it is obscured by a triangular, helmet made with straw, some strands of hair peek out underneath the hat revealing a bleached type of blonde hair riding smoothly along the winds.

"Well then, perish before my sword you dirty wolves!"

The person materialized a huge, machete sword at his hand and lunged forward to one of the wolves in a blink of an eye. The machete gleamed frighteningly in the dead of the night, the person's movement as eloquent as the wind in smoothness. With a sharp, cutting sound, the person sliced one of the wolves in a clean motion as if he was cutting the air with nothing impeding his blade in the space.

The wolves snarled and started to jump onto the person in a pack of ferality. Unfazed, the person turned his body to face the wolves and cut them all into halves with no sense of effort nor work at all. More of the wolves ran after the person but to no avail. He merely tapped his helmet to lower it and diced the remaining creatures into nothingness like clockwork. His arms and movements became a blur to his Master's eyes, it's as if she was watching a flurry of death done by a single blade.

*growl*

Rachelle turned her head to the growling in surprise. Suddenly, a wolf jumped towards her, its mouth open and salivating rabidly openly saying its intention to devour the red headed girl. Rachelle brought her arms up to her face ina futile attempt of guarding her. It's over. I'm dead! She mentally prepared for the big bite to come to her as she closed her eyes in sheerless fear.

Yet... The expected did not came.

"Man, you wolves are real cheaters."

Rachelle peeked open one of her eyes and saw the wolf being suspended mid air by a wavy blade connected to a cord, ran through its throat. The wolf whined helplessly as it twitched and disintegrated by the mysterious person's blade launched into him. With a zipping sound, the person dashed to Rachelle's side, pulled the blade off the wolf through the side and kicked its disintegrating body towards the shadows of the forest.

"Huh, never thought they would aim for Master while I'm here. Good thing I got my kris here."

"U-Umm..."

Rachelle tried to thank the person but was cut off as she heard another sharp cutting sound near her ear.

"Sorry about that Master. You don't have to thank me... But..."

The shuffling within the shadows grew to a hundred more. Numerous pairs of red, glaring eyes showed from the darkness, twice... No... Thrice or more than the amount back then. Rachelle clutched her right hand half in fear and half in pain. The chilling aura brought by the wolves was in great contrast with the searing heat tearing apart at her hand. Her vision swimmed and her consciousness risked of fainting, only the voice of the person standing near her kept her awake and sane from the sensations and the events happening around her.

"We're in quite a predicament here Master. I'll have to go on to a great length for a preliminary exam."

Too hot... Can't... Breathe...

"Don't worry, please leave everything to me. Let this Saber be the sword that would raise the red flag of victory until the very end."

Sa...ber...? With that final thought, Saber swung the cord-connected kris above their heads and gradually increased it in velocity and size. Heat and pain grew stronger as the wind spun along with the blade, Saber is spinning. Rachelle's vision blurred and fell as she heard the final string of words from the person at her side.

Her very own Servant.

"[Battle Hymn of the Bravest]"

And quickly she fainted into the darkness.

 **Oh and please read and review. They make me happy!**


	2. Chapter 1 TUTORIAL FIGHT!

**Okay, so apparently this site doesn't like my way of spacing the characters to give more emphasis and it doesn't like me spelling .PH. as it is so I'll just write SERAPH. Okay, I can deal with that but eh... I dunno... it might lessen the impact of the very low impact factor of this story... I'm so sorry. Please read and review!**

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 _ **DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters here (except one) nor the Fate series. If I did, it would have a shitty story line by now.**_

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 _The stars shining bright above_

 _Oh how will you fly my love?_

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 _ **1ST WEEK**_

 _ **Combatants left : 128**_

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A dark room... An unknown light... A blurred vision... An incomplete face.

Digitized lines run across its walls and light, parallel and perpendicular but never intersecting.

"Never... forget... Time is... relapsing... the Holy Grail War... destroy... The world..."

A male's voice talks to her, soft, sweet and mellow. Yet his context cannot reach her ears.

"Never forget..."

Forget? Forget what?

"Time... Relapse.."

Time... Is relapsing?

"Destroy... The world..."

Destroy... The world?

And suddenly everything faded to black.

Soft, shuffling of white sheets stirred the quiet air, a groaning sound whispers gently into the space. The lone girl, laying comfortably on the bed, opened her red irises in a morning's wake. Her slumber was cut short of a dream, neither a nightmare nor a sweet dream. It was bizarre if she were to describe it in a single phrase.

The dream only featured one man in the eyes of the red haired girl. She couldn't remember his name, nor his face, only in this dream was she reminded of him again. Dark, hopeless, futile feelings scratched the back of her heart, as she replayed that dream in her head over in a loop.

What must she remember? What does he mean by relapsing times? Why did he talk about destroying the world?

Numerous questions with no answers. Frustration from ignorance without salvation. How long will she remain in the mystery of events happening to her?

She pushed her body back with her arms, pressing her back against the hard wall behind the bed. She scanned the area around her with her sleepy eyes.

Where am I?

She asked as she tried to shuffle through her memories, searching for the name of the place. She should be still in the Tsumikahara school grounds, if she were transported elsewhere, she would go on a rampage. Pure white walls, snow white curtains hiding the resting area, steel tables lined with medical equipment, and the general smell of antiseptic floating in the air. Judging from this in one sighting, one could say this is a place for healing. For a place of healing to be on school grounds that would be-

"The nurse office. So you have finally awaken, I was thinking about finding another master if you didn't woke up, Master. Good for you. "

Ah, sarcastic tone remarks so early in the morning.

"You... Can't you be softer with a sick person?"

"Sick? Please don't make me laugh. You're merely tired with the summoning and the preliminaries that you fainted the instant I took a bit of push with your mana. You're fine in any way, Master."

Rachelle grumbled annoyingly under her breath as she inspected the mysterious man that suddenly appeared beside her. Why wasn't she surprised when he first appeared? Well, she just got used to it due to the things happening around her.

Her eyes scanned the mysterious man's body from head to toe. A triangular shaped helmet made of straw still obscured his face, adding to the sense of mystery surrounding this person and why he calls Rachelle, Master. His clothes still remained the same from that night. Dirty white shirt with a red neckerchief adorned his upper torso, effectively concealing anything he might have hidden underneath that baggy choice of clothes. His knee long trousers still looks browned and tattered as if it was used repeatedly for a long time, surviving many battles and engaged in many awesome events.

His limbs was still wrapped in that same rugged bandage. Now that Rachelle sees it with the light of the sun, his arms are a bit thin for a male. Maybe he doesn't like bodybuilding? Or was it because of those bandages? Lastly, his overall appearance was that of a normal human but the red haired girl can sense something more extreme within him. Some kind of extreme power.

An awespiring power.

"Hey, I haven't asked you this before..."

"Hm? What is it Master?"

"Who are you?"

Beep.

"YOU SUMMONED ME WITHOUT KNOWING WHO I AM?! WHAT NON SENSE ARE YOU SPOUTING RIGHT NOW SO EARLY IN THE MORNING?!"

"Uwaah! Why are you getting angry?!"

The mysterious man stomped his feet angrily to the ground with a loud sound, startling the living hell lights out of the just woke up girl. His teeth can be seen visibly gnashing beneath his helmet and his aura turns into a fiery rage behind his back. First thing in the morning, getting sarcastic tones thrown at her. Second thing in the morning, she gets scolded for reason she absolutely doesn't comprehend.

God why am I unlucky?!

"Oi Master! Did you truly summon me, a Saber servant, with absolutely no idea on what you're doing?! How helpless can you be in a war?!"

"Huuuh?! Saber? Servant? War? I have no idea what the hell are you talking about! And stop shouting at me! Its unethical to a non-morning person!"

Rachelle shouted back as she hid at the side of the bed with the pillows and blankets being used as a physical protection against the raging man in front of her. Her eyes held no lies, her twitches bared the whole truth. How the hell she would know? What SHOULD she know exactly?

"...Are you serious? Then first things first, do you know about the Holy Grail War?"

Her eyes widened at the mention of the name. The Holy Grail War... Was it the same war mentioned by Noir to her the other day? Fighting for an all granting Holy Grail... Was it actually true?

"Judging from your reaction, I guess you know a bit. Then I'll skip the specifics, yes we are currently in the Holy Grail War. You're one of the 128 special people that has a privilege and passed its preliminaries on joining this large scale event, for the all granting power of the Holy Grail. To fight in this war, a Master should have his or her Servant summoned with him as his main weapon and sword for the whole time. Do you know about Servants, Master?"

Rachelle shook her head from side to side. The mysterious man exhales loudly in a disappointed tone and sat at the edge of one bed, crossing his legs and arms to present an exalted image.

"Servants are Heroic Spirits and Divine Spirits summoned for the purpose of competing in the Holy Grail War under the command of a master, which is you for my case. Heroic spirits are people or personifications coming from history and literature, you can say we are ghosts of the pasts brought back to life to wreck havoc in a living war."

Heroic spirits summoned for the purpose of competing in a war? For some reason, there was something tragic about it for Rachelle but, just the thought of their nature blows away her rationality and emotions on the subject. She remembers the time when that huge burst of energy flowed out into the area when she was, according to the mysterious man, summoning him. If what the mysterious man says is true, then Heroic spirits, other than being historical figures, must be some godly power coming from the heavens above.

"Servants are classified into seven classes. Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Lancer, Archer and Saber. I won't go into specific details about them for now, but you'll know it in the future."

"Then... You belong to?"

Rachelle raised a question to her Servant. The man stood up from the bed and materialized his weapon in front of her. A great, huge machete with a frighteningly sharp gleam and power. One could easily tell that this person was not to be angered in a battle when faced with this sword.

"Sabers are the jack-of-all trades with balanced standings and great strength, this class also specializes in close proximity combat although there are some exceptions. That's where I belong."

At this point, Rachelle's Servant slid down his triangular helmet backwards, stretching its bands tight against his chest. Blonde, back length hair tied in a ponytail flowed down perfectly from the insides of the helmet resting at his shoulders and smooth nape. The Servant looked strongly at his Master who only exclaimed in a large voice-

"YOU'RE A WOMAN?!"

"Uhh... Was that not obvious? I mean, even with my hat you could still hear my voice and my limbs resemble that of a female.

"B-But your voice was never described in the past passages...! A-And the descriptions has always said that you are a 'mysterious man'!"

"Master, do not break the fourth wall! It's disgraceful!"

Rachelle clutched the sheets as she degraded into a pile of shocked mush at the clinic floor. Never would she have thought that she would refer a she as a he for one whole day. And she's going to be my partner for this whole damned event! Why is this first impression so bad?!

"M-Master... Is my gender that much a serious business?"

"Yes it does! Why is a woman like you dressing up as a man anyways?! Get more frills, more skirts, and more ribbons! A woman's greatest weapon is her attractiveness and clothes!"

"Request declined! Besides, it wasn't me who chose these clothing, it was with me the whole time even before I was summoned! It... Probably has something related to my true name."

Her true name? Now that she mentions it, Servants are Heroic spirits which are also historical or literature figures. If her Servant is also a Heroic spirit, who was she back then in the real, living world?

"Did that pique your interest Master? You're looking like a dog waiting for his master to give him a treat."

Rachelle's Servant laughed as she turns beet red at the comment. What is wrong with being curious about her comrade's true identity?! Stupid Servant!

"Anyways, information about a Servant's identity is highly valuable piece of information against an enemy party. If someone finds out about my true identity then we'll have a harder time gaining victory in this war, Master. We must avoid that at all costs."

The Servant stated in a strong, emphasizing tone. While the intention was good as it is tactical strategy for this war, Rachelle cannot help but feel she was not someone to be trusted by being withhold of this information by her comrade.

"Do not worry Master. When the time comes, I shall tell you of my true name... Just not now. For the time being, please refer to me as Saber in order to conceal my identity and call me from anytime you want."

"Yeah... Got it! Nice to meet you, Saber!"

"Same here, Master."

The two held out their hand and firmly shook each other's in companionship and comradeship. Allied with Saber... For better or worse... For some reason this gives Rachelle a sense of fulfillment and power. She can't explain it but she's quite happy for this despite the... Rough... First meeting and introductions.

It's going to be a long event for both her and Saber.

"Oh and one more thing Saber."

"Yes?"

Rachelle positions both of her hands near Saber's body and...

*grope*

"?!"

"Hmm... This chest..."

Her hands moved up and down Saber's chest, sliding it left to right, and feeling it thoroughly through her palms.

"M-Master... Wha-?!"

Saber's face grew with an intense blush as she was assaulted perversely by her Master. Although, she thinks of it as an inspection and doesn't push her Master off from groping her entire chest.

"I'm just curious about some thing and..."

"A-And...?"

Rachelle looked straight and strict to Saber's green irises,increasing the depth of the blush permeating into her cheeks.

"You're... Totally flat."

*crack*

"OWH!"

A sickeningly, cracking sound connects to Rachelle's cranium and the almighty divine fist of her Saber. Throbbing pain coursed throughout the red haired girl's head and the poor event havoc'd girl clutched the top side of her head, groaning and grumbling with the pain.

"Why did you do that Saber?!"

"Hmph!"

Saber's beet red face turned its nose away from Rachelle as she disappeared into nothingness with a crackling sound. Rachelle couldn't see her Servant anymore but she could still feel her presence... And her seething infuriated aura emanating almost tangible heat from her side.

Did she get angry with that?

Then again everyone would be angry if they were suddenly groped and copped randomly.

Rachelle has made another bad life choice. This is really going to be a long event for her and Saber.

With a heavy sigh, Rachelle walked past the curtains and looked once again at the room's interior. Despite it being similar, hexagonal lines crawl upon the walls and ceiling, the tables and materials looks strangely from an another world, and everything looks like it was something out of data projection or the such. How strange... She was sure this was Tsumikahara academy but something feels... Off?

On the cue, the door slid open and a pink haired girl with a huge lab coat stepped in the room. She looks at Rachelle for a brief moment and grins happily as she greets her.

"Ah Rachelle, you're finally awake! I'm so relieved. You don't seem to have any injuries, so feel free to leave when you feel like it and congratulations on passing the preliminaries!"

The school nurse clapped her hands cheerfully which made the red haired girl feel a bit awkward. Still seeing this petite faculty cheerfully praising her for something she doesn't exactly know how she did, makes her feel happy and warm herself.

"Since the preliminaries are over, your memories should be returned to you by the SERAPH so do not worry. Any magi that seek the Holy Grail have their memories suppressed and are given those of a student. Only Masters who managed to recover themselves are allowed to enter the main tournament. Now that you have regained your memories, please review them to make sure they're complete."

Wait wait... Memories?

"What do you mean? What memories?"

"The memories from before the preliminaries, the time of your magus training."

Huh?

"That doesn't sound right. I don't remember anything from my time before I transferred to Tsumikahara academy. Doc, you sure you're not joking?"

The school nurse widens her eyes in surprise and crunches it back into an apologetic, worried face.

"Your memory restoration failed? Oh no, I'm sorry I cannot help you. I, Sakura Matou, is only a custodial AI and thus does not know anything about the system's works beyond my programming. You can ask Father Kotomine about it if you want."

Rachelle brought her hand up to her chin and thought. Well if its that then it can't be helped, but something bothers me about what she said.

"I'll think about it but I have a question, what do you mean by a 'custodial AI'?"

"Custodial AI? Its a type of NPC who acts as a healer for the Masters while they are in campus. I also give out medicine supplies to them per week but... Its out of stock right now so please come and claim them next week."

Sakura told with a straight face and an unnerving stare. An NPC? She means a non playable character? Things just kept getting weirder for the red haired girl, but her gut tells her that she's only scratching the surface of things.

"Then... You're not... Human?"

"Yes! I'm only an NPC created by the Moon Cell for the Holy Grail War."

...It was at that moment Rachelle gave up understanding the situation at all.

"Oh right, before I forget. Here."

The pink haired girl reached out to her lab coat's pockets and gave the red haired girl a some sort of rectangular shaped device. Rachelle accepted the object the school nurse has given to her and looked at it curiously. This looks like some sort of portable terminal, probably for messages and such?

"As a participant, you should pay attention to any messages that appear on your terminal. With that good luck with your journey, Rachelle!"

The school nurse finished off with a beaming smile that seemed very much like a human for an NPC. The red headed girl thanked the pink haired girl and excused herself from the nurse office with a slightly more tired expression than before.

Everything is too weird around her, the war, her memories, Masters, and Servants. Rachelle glanced behind her where her Servant, Saber, should be. She could still feel the seething rage from her, she wishes it would be over now. Then again, she was the one at fault why Saber is like that.

"Now then... What should I do?"

Rachelle cocked her head to the side and thought to herself. Since she was dragged into some Holy Grail war that would mean she doesn't have to attend classes right? What does she usually do in her free time and after school?

Explore the school?

...

Might as well than moping around here.

With that set in mind, Rachelle dashed towards the stairs in hopes of finding an adventure.

* * *

Her breath jagged, her muscles sore, and her heart bated fast. To think that she had gone to every place in the school in the school without knowing it... Rachelle placed her hand against the wall and breath in deep gulps of air.

"Well... I haven't gone to the rooftop yet so its fine."

Rachelle murmured to herself and pushed open the large door above the third floor of the room. Slowly, the door creaked, its hinges obviously rusted on the years of being locked and off limits. Light gradually filled the small space at the end of the stairs, growing brighter and glaring as more of the door gets pushed. Rachelle stepped into the light and...

"Woah."

Red irises marveled at the blue, fake sky above. The sky look and felt like a clear sunny day in a spring's day. No dim clouds were visible, the sun did not glare nor hurt her eyes and the wind felt great and refreshing compared to the stuffy air inside the school building. However, even with those wonders Rachelle knew something was wrong with it.

The same hexagonal lines she saw at the walls of the nurse office lined those same blue skies like a dome or a barrier surrounding them and the whole campus. Rings of digits and codes floated high above the clouds, revolving in its axis. It was as if it was there to signal all people... Or Masters in this situation that no escape is possible. Rachelle's spirit sunk a bit at that thought, yet the marvelous sky still kept that determination afloat and alive inside her.

"Huh. I've investigated this school from top to bottom, but there's nothing unique about it. How disappointing."

Rachelle turned her gaze to the source of that proud sounding sound. She recognizes that sound, it was that voice who called her out in the first day.

"Tohsaka... Rin?"

Black hair flowed perfectly as Rin turned her head to the voice who said her name. Black irises met with red blood ones and time suddenly felt like it was slowing down. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't because of romantic reasons.

"Oh. The transfer student. "

A hostile expression paints at Rin's face. Disdain and dislike emanates like fire from her aura against the red haired girl. Rachelle laughed nervously and gave out a wry smile at that statement.

What did I do to deserve this treatment?

"Hm... So you passed the preliminaries. Good for you."

"U-Uhh... Same to you, I guess? I never expected to meet miss Tohsaka again here."

Rachelle tried to change the atmosphere into a friendly one.

"Hah, that's natural. Don't compare a Tohsaka to a third-rate hacker like you, transfer student."

And ultimately failed and insulted. What's with this girl and her issues?!

"So? Did you have any business with me transfer student? If you don't then leave at once. I don't want any other Masters staying at my favorite place."

Woah, this girl has serious social problems.

"Stop calling me transfer student, it's Rachelle or RRB! I'm just finding something to do since I don't know what I'm going to do. Everything is just too weird and everyone talks as if we're in a game or something. It's bizarre."

"Bizarre? What are you talking about, these are nothing compared to what magi and hackers have to go through for their training. Hey, did something screw up with your memories or something?"

Rachelle flinched loudly, her eyes widened and soon darkens to a depressed look. All she knows was that she was Rachelle Ray Borham, nothing else, nothing more. Sure she had these weird subconscious memories but saying that she isn't bothered by them is a mistake in itself. Only a dead person could not care about his memories in a battlefield of death.

"Uh... No way. Your memories still haven't returned? That's not good... Once you're in the Holy Grail War, the only way out is to win. Nothing else, nothing more. Memories are one powerful advantage in a war since it keeps all of your experiences and such. You'll have to fight without them.

Rachelle's expression turns more gloomy at those words. She clenched her fists into balls and bit her lower lip. She knows that, she can know that. But nearing it face to face is...

"...Oh well. It doesn't matter. You'll be defeated in the Holy Grail War soon enough."

*Crack*

T-This black and red bitch...!

"Man, ever someone tell you you're too prideful for your own good? "

The red haired girl snapped at the black haired girl with red venom at her every word. Her red irises glares angrily at her black ones, full of fury and rage at her words. Everyone has their own limits, even for a good girl like Rachelle.

"W-What was that?! I'm just speaking the truth here! With your current state of mind you don't stand a chance against the other magi and hackers! You're clearly dog feed here !"

Of course the ever mighty Tohsaka Rin responds to the insult and fired up arrows straight to Rachelle's heart.

"That might be true but everyone can improve themselves little by little, so don't you just declare someone is dog feed without seeing it till the end!"

Rin steps back and honestly looked surprised with that statement. Looks like someone has been too talented since their birth that they didn't have to undergo hard work training.

"Besides... Pride is a way of masking someone's faults. Are you sure you're not the dog feed here, miss Tohsaka Rin?"

A taunt. A reply.

"What was that you third rate magus?! How dare you call me a dog feed when I'm clearly more superior than you!"

"Hah. What right do you even have to call me dog feed in the first place? I'm just returning the favor!"

"Why you...!"

"Hmph!"

The air temperature turned up by a huge amount of degrees in a short span of time. Their eyes continued to be locked in a fierce glaring competition, electric sparks flew in between them and their auras turned into flames of pure anger. Rachelle's haughty smirk grew more down-looking as Rin's face increasingly turned red in seething fury with the red haired's words and expressions.

"Fine then! I predict you won't even last 2 weeks in this war! I believe in beginner's luck so you may have a chance to win at the first round but not in the second! How's that Rachelle Ray Borham?!"

Tohsaka Rin pointed a sharp finger at Rachelle who only grinned in response to the challenge.

"Fine, but if I survive more than that, you'll have to do anything that I want as long as I live! What about it Tohsaka, are you willing to bet?"

Without a single moment of hesitation, the black haired girl replied in the same sharp blade as before.

"I accept! I tell you, you won't survive for long third rate magus!"

"We'll see about that, hmph!"

The red haired girl turned her back against the black haired girl and walked towards the exit in an angry, stomping manner. Rin does the same and tantrums like a little child, speaking to someone the world cannot see with their eyes.

Rachelle walks towards the stairway and closes the rooftop door, shrouding the space with minimal light and gradual darkness. With a sigh half of tiredness and half of exasperation, she leaned against the cold metal door and looked up to the ceiling hoping it would calm her blood and mind on that previous exchange.

"That was a pretty heated argument. Was that your friend?"

Rachelle eyed the blonde girl with a glare who materialized with a clinking sound in front of her. Now that she looks it in a dim light, Saber's eyes looks like they are glowing ethereally and are pretty attractive.

"And then you decided to show up. Do we look like friends to you?"

"Hmm... So that's what it takes to reveal the venom in your tongue huh? I should take note of that. Anyways, are you serious about what you said earlier? You're going to improve from your current state and win?"

Saber's arms settled her arms across her chest. She puts one leg in front of the other and leans cooly on the concrete data wall. Her face is serious, her eyes are strong, her aura says she wasn't in the mood for jokes. Truly this is Saber's twisted concern for her pitiful Master.

Rachelle looked directly at Saber's green irises with the same serious stare. She brings up a hand to brush her hair off her shoulder in one sudden motion and settles it back to her waist. Full of authority and determination.

"Of course. Especially that black red angered me quite a lot today. I'll make sure she eats her own words!"

Rachelle said in an annoyed tone as Saber smirked at this reply.

"That's the spirit Master. Very well, your sword, your Saber shall help you in that quest of yours! Together, we shall improve and topple down this war with our own hands!"

A sense of agreement and cooperation. Why does it seem so familiar yet unfamiliar to her? The light sets and the darkness shrouds over the campus that day.

* * *

 _-EVENING-_

* * *

"Do you know your opponent yet RRB?"

Rachelle looked up curiously from her desk and met eyes with a girl from her class. Or at least a girl from her fake class from the preliminaries.

"What opponent?"

"Huh, you don't know yet? You should go to Father Kotomine to know who as soon as possible. Remember, the early bird gets the worm!"

Oh right, this is a war so I probably have some enemies. Rachelle thought to herself as she heard her fellow Master's advice. A war for the omnipotent, its still hard for the red haired girl to believe. All her memories clearly indicate she is just a normal girl living a normal life yet, the evidences clearly say the otherwise. Magi, NPCs, Holy Grail, such mysterious words that hold an elaborate meaning. She wonders if she could know all those answers by the end of this catastrophe.

"All right, I'll go find him then. Bye bye!"

"Right, and good luck!"

The red haired girl stood up from her seat and started dashing outside. Running around has always been her favorite hobby at the school. Free from worries, free from despair, ah how she wishes she can go back to those days.

Wait... Who's Father Kotomine?

Rachelle skidded into a halt. How stupid, she should have asked who that, presumably, priest is.

"What is it Master?"

Her Saber spoke up from behind asking about her current movements.

"I... Don't know who Father Kotomine is..."

Rachelle smiled wryly at Saber who only replied with an exasperated sigh and an unamused face. With a quick chop of her hand, Saber brought down a light pain towards Rachelle making the red haired girl wince at the sudden impact.

"Idiot."

"Uuuu..."

"Well... It can't be helped. Maybe you can ask help from the NPC or from some- Ah."

"Saber?"

Immediately, Saber dissipated into the thin air with a clinking, snappish sound. What's wrong? Did she feel someone? Rachelle's face contorted into worry, maybe she felt bad?

"Oh isn't that?"

A male sounding, broad voice comes from behind of the red haired girl and she spun at her heel to face the source of the voice. Two... Two males comparable to the beauty of the gods walked towards her. One with a friendly smile and one with a neutral expression.

One was a face familiar to her, she had met him by chance at the archery range in the preliminaries.. She couldn't forget that moment... She could not erase that memory of being labeled as a pervert right in front of her face. Rachelle's eyebrows furrowed at this memory as she looked at the male's appearance once again.

His hair was still black and slick, running around the sharp edges of his jaws and cheek bones in a perfect and handsome look, parting above his eyebrows and sliding off in an elegant finish. His eyes are a deep jet black, comparable to a void that entices the living beings. He doesn't wear glasses like before though, Rachelle thought disappointingly at this.

His clothes now consist of a collared white shirt, with its first three buttons opened, revealing his toned chest openly and shamelessly. A loose red necktie also decorated the plain white shirt, albeit in a sex-inducing way.

Clean and black slacks adorned his lower half with a shiny, black, pointed pair of leather shoes covering up his two feet. Also, a grey-black coat hanged limply at his shoulders with its sleeves in front of his body and the rest of the coat are behind him. giving off a wild and messy aura for his prim and prop clothes.

"Aha-! The pervert is doing it again! Do you really want to see me naked that badly?"

"W-What?! I'd never!"

"Vairu... Is this a friend?"

Rachelle turned to the the guy beside the annoying one who was apparently called Vairu. He was equally as beautiful as his companion, Rachelle wonders if they're related in some way.

Bleached blonde hair sits on the crown of his head, almost similar to the black haired guy at his side. The two differed in its length, with the blonde guy's hair tips almost touching his broad shoulders. His eyes are of an eerily bright golden color, reminding the red haired girl of the power and majesty of the sun. It almost inhumane to her but with sanity inside it, unlike his companion.

A dark brown color, permeates his skin, something deemed uncommon by Rachelle for blondes like him. His clothes consist of a jet black, long sleeved coat covering the whole of his arms up to his wrists. A yellow necktie adorns the middle section of the coat, designing it perfectly with a black and gold theme.

The two wore the same slacks and shoes, although the blonde's stance is far more stoic than the black haired's posture. Rachelle definitely wonders what their relationship is.

"Huh? Guess you could say that, we met at the archery range during the preliminaries. Although, someone enjoyed that meeting far more than she imagined?"

The black haired guy winked playfully at Rachelle who recoiled from him in disgust.

"Hmm... She doesn't look friendly at all."

"Probably because she doesn't know our names?"

"Wait... Ours?"

A judging pause.

"You mean you haven't introduced yourself and you called yourself a friend?"

"Man, Max. Don't sweat the small details! Here."

The black haired guy patted the blonde's shoulders and pulled him closer in a friendly way.

"My name is Vairu Bertel Etheridge and this guy is Maximillian Bertel. We're cousins who has been raised since childhood, that's why we're inseparable!"

Oh they're cousins. That confirms my theory. Rachelle thought silently with Vairu's introduction to them.

"You don't have to say our relationship."

"Aaaanyways, your turn! Introduce!"

Vairu grinned at Rachelle. Such a large grin for someone he just met... And insulted. Still for some reason, the red haired girl felt a flame within her chest and her cheeks blushed quietly at the man's antics. He's still a bastard for calling me a pervert... Its not my fault he's beautiful.

"Rachelle Ray Borham. You can call me Rachelle or RRB instead. T-That's all. Nice to meet you, Vairu and Maximillian."

The two male expressed their replies in different ways. Vairu's happy grin grew larger and more cheerful as Maximillian's eyes grew softer but his lips curled down to a frown. Rachelle takes it he's okay with her introduction.

"And with that, we're friends! Now RRB, what are you doing around here? Not many people randomly go out running to a hallway and suddenly stop for no reason."

H-He saw me?! Rachelle was about to blurt out something resembling of an interjection but immediately stopped when she felt an invisible pair of eyes boring a deep hole through her back.

"Err... I was looking for Father Kotomine. Well... I say looking but I don't really know who is he."

The red haired gave a small laugh which resembled more of a pathetic attempt to hide her obliviousness.

"Oh him. That's easy! Max, do it!"

Vairu nudged his cousin with a light jab of his elbow. The blonde cousin sighed with an annoyed tone and raised his hands to the air. With a clapping position...

*Clap*

*Clap*

...Maximillian clapped his hands two times in a slow but not lazy manner. A few moments of silence... and then soft tapping of feet can be heard from a distance. Rachelle turned behind her and was greeted by a huge clergyman with black robes and an overall impression of darkness and gloominess. Father Kotomine has tousled, slightly long brown hair and a pair of eyes with the similar color. His sight alone makes Rachelle heart quiver in fear as she can feel the overpowering authority within the vessel of the man.

Why was is this man wearing dark overalls when priests are supposed to be more... I dunno, pure white?

A question Rachelle knew she wouldn't know the answer.

"Good evening Masters. I am an NPC assigned to the task of supervising the Holy Grail War, you may call me Father Kotomine if you want."

The dark priest said in a dead, monotone voice that made Rachelle feel a chill run down her spine. She also felt Saber twitch nervously at the frozen voice the clergyman had despite being out of sight.

"Welp, we'll be seeing you later RRB!"

"Eh? You're leaving?!"

"Well... We don't really like being around that NPC so haha! Right Max?"

Maximillian affirmed with a small quiet nod as he tried to avoid Kotomine's eye contact. Vairu smiled apologetically to Rachelle and dashed off with Maximillian to some place she doesn't know. And she thought they we're friends...

With a large gulping sound, Rachelle stared at Father Kotomine who easily towered above her. He looks like he could crush someone in a blink of an eye with that stare.

"Ah... Those Masters are rude for running away from me. Nevertheless, I'll catch them sooner or later."

...? Catch them?

"Anyways, you are Master Rachelle Ray Borham correct? I have not given you the proper greeting yet due to your mana exhaustion at the preliminaries, allow me to fully deliver it to you."

The dark priest took a step backward and opened his arms in a welcoming manner... Or at least that's what Rachelle thought he was trying to do.

"Congratulations. You have been deemed worthy to be a participant in the Holy Grail War. As of today you and your fellow magi have been given the honor of fighting in the Arena in the first floor at the farthest corner of the right hallway facing the courtyard. The war is run as an elimination tournament, with the Grail being awarded to the last person standing. In other words, the participating Masters will kill each other until there is only one person left. Simple enough to understand, yes? Even a complete idiot should be able to understand the rules."

Wait wait what? We're going to KILL each other? He means murder?! Rachelle opened her mouth to protest yet the priest continued on talking, completely ignoring the confused and slightly horrified expression of the red haired girl.

"Masters get a six day preparation period before Elimination Battles, which occur on the seventh day. I'd advise you to use the time given to devise the most efficient means of slaughtering your foe. On the seventh day, you and your foe will fight. The winner lives, and the loser is... Deleted."

What... Deleted?

"If you wish to make a query, speak now. The right to ask about the rules is given to all."

With the bulk of instructions given to her, Rachelle's mind is in a total disarray of information. The Holy Grail War is conducted by one on one death matches in the Arena and the loser... Dies? He's joking right? There's no way someone will die in this right?

"Hey... Do we really have to kill each other? I mean... There HAS to be a way where they do not die!"

"Hmm... A compassionate one I see. However, there is no way to save your opponent or yourself from the imminent guillotine placed upon your necks. Once you are defeated, the rope snaps and you WILL get deleted."

Father Kotomine said with a perverse grin at his face which made the words heavier to Rachelle's ears. They have to fight... They have to kill... They have to die... For some Grail?

"Are there anymore questions?"

A lot. Rachelle wanted to pour out every bit of questions and emotion she had to the Father. Why should they fight? Why would someone die? Why can't we just refuse? Why can't we just all leave quietly and live? Why should we risk our lives for some Grail? Question after question ran through the red haired girl's mind, yet her mouth only answered.

"No... No questions at all..."

Rachelle said with an obvious mortified tone, a blank look at her eyes, and an unsteady stance at her feet. The dark priest nodded affirmatively before widening his eyes as if he remembered something.

"Oh right, you have yet to be informed of your first round opponent, correct? Please wait a moment."

Father Kotomine closed his eyes momentarily before opening them up again with a contorted expression at his face.

"...Strange. There seems to be a system error. I will locate your opponent by tomorrow."

I don't want to know... Rachelle thought as she bit her lip with a slight force. Why, why must she be dragged in this twisted game of life and death? What is her purpose in this place?

 _Never forget._

That voice again. Whose voice?

 _Never forget._

Rachelle tries to cover the sound from her ears, yet it keeps on repeating to her. Never forget. Meaningless words to her... Yet somehow it gives her a sense of relief.

Why?

"Oh and one last thing..."

Rachelle looked up to Father Kotomine's face who was still wearing his ever deadpan, neutral expression.

"Masters that continue to advance will be given a private room."

With that said, Kotomine reached out a digitized piece of paper to Rachelle. Curiously, the red headed girl flipped it up and saw random numbers inscribed into it. A password perhaps?

"Your room will be located in the 2-B. Please enter this password into your terminal as soon as you get there. Well, the time for conversation has come to an end. The door to the Arena awaits for you young Master. For today, concentrate on becoming accustomed to the inner workings of the Arena. The Arena entrance uses the same door you went through during the preliminaries. Good luck."

As soon as he finished talking, Kotomine walks away and quietly disappears in a digital thin air without even a courtesy bow or a goodbye wave. Rachelle stood there in the hallway, all alone and silent at what just transpired. It's too late... I've been warped in this war already... What must I do?

As if there was an answer from the heavens, a sharp clinking sound came up from behind Rachelle. The red haired girl turned around and looked face to face with her Servant.

"What a weirdly designed NPC. Then again even in my time, priests were... Undesirable... To say using family friendly words."

Saber crossed her arms across her chest and nodded to herself.

"Saber... What should we do? We must... Must..."

"We must kill someone by the end of the week. Is that what you want to say Master?"

Rachelle bit her lip and looked down to the ground. Her thoughts went up running again as Saber only looked at her with a frown painted at her face. With an exasperated sigh, Saber held up Rachelle's hands which made the red haired girl look at her again eye to eye.

"Don't think about it too much Master. That's what I'm here for, to be the independent sword to cleanse your hands off the blood of the executed like Pontius Pilate."

Saber's strong glare contrasted her weirdly soft hands, squeezing tight at Rachelle's feminine ones. Her palms feel rough yet warm and loving, her eyes held some sort of comfort in them despite her edged riddled words, the red haired girl's chest felt aflame, and the emotions and thoughts that were once flowing in her like river rapids quickly dissipated like a steady stream of crystal water.

Rachelle looked down from Saber's eyesight shyly, a meek blush forming at her cheeks and a small smile curls up at her lips. That's right, Saber is there for her. What is she so worried about? With a light nod, the red haired girl smiled at Saber who also gave a light smile towards her Master. The blonde girl let her Master's hand go and turned towards the stairs.

"For now, why don't we follow that clergyman and check out the Arena? Its a good place to start."

Saber advised as she disappeared once again into thin air, turning into her spirit form right beside Rachelle. The red haired girl hummed about it for a second and with a quick nod, dashed towards the Arena.

* * *

 _-First Chimeric Lunar Sea-_

* * *

"Whoa..."

"This is the Arena. During the duration of the war, this is the only place we're allowed to actively fight. In order to cull incompetent Masters, SE. RA. PH. has turned a number of enemy programs loose here. It's the perfect place for us to train. Don't worry, this Saber will make sure none of us will even get a scratch."

Saber explained in a slightly crude manner as Rachelle continued to be marveled and awe'd by the huge map in front of her. Translucent walls line up the whole of the paths, staying still and unchanging for the whole of the Holy Grail War. Numerous unidentified flying objects scanned their own respective areas, wary and vigilant for any Master who has come to challenge them.

This feels like a game. Rachelle thought excitedly as she clutched her chest in anticipation and curiosity.

"Raring to go aren't we? Anyways, for today let's try to reach as far as that bee-like program at the end. That will be our limit for today."

Saber pointed her machete to the far end of the path wherein a buzzing sound of a bee can be heard from the enemy program hovering there. Well it looks like a bee to be fair enough.

"Eh? Can't we go all the way Saber? You said you'll protect me riiiight?"

"Ha. Ha. Just so you know Master, my power only comes from you. So if, ever I was defeated by one of these mobs, you'll have no one to blame but you and yourself."

"U...Uhh..."

Rachelle looked down with embarassment as Saber's half-hearted, sarcastic laugh shotted her cutesy down in an instant.

"By the way Saber..."

"Hm?"

"Why are you wearing your helmet again? The light isn't too glaring here- ow!"

The red haired girl recoiled in pain as her blonde haired servant flicked a finger up to her forehead leaving a bright red spot at where her fingers hit.

"Idiot, this is to hide my identity. It's possible that our opponent entered the Arena before or after us that's why we need to be careful. Surely you still remember my words about identities being a notch advantage against a Servant, correct?"

"Yes ma'am..."

Rachelle whined as she rubbed the red spot at her forehead. She's surprised she wasn't thrown back by it, it was quite powerful.

"So then, it's your call how we'll proceed. Make me proud, Master."

Saber tipped her helmet down and awaited for Rachelle's next move. With a heavy sigh, the red haired girl started walking down the path with a brisk and steady pace.

One rule of all games is to explore the whole area thoroughly. Who knows what you can find and get from the random boxes at the corners of the map and the enemy drops when you defeat them. The sense of treasure, the brimming pockets of gold, the endless invigoration of leveling up. Ah how, Rachelle wishes she could live a life of adventure and heroic epic! The red haired girl kept a bounce at her steps, imagining the stuff if she was the heroine of a game.

Her own story, her own spirit flares for it! She could hear it calling, the tall mountains-

"M...ter.."

The voyages at the sea-!

"...ster."

The flight through the skies abo-

"MASTER GET DOWN!"

"Heh?"

A forced pull brings down Rachelle to her behind, a loud clashing sound bellowed above head sweeping the air above her and dissonates the sounds around her.

"What are you doing Master?! We just entered the Arena, don't start daydreaming now!"

"Hoeh?! S-S-Sorry!"

"Less apologies, more action! Master, your commands."

Saber readied her sword in a defensive stance as she eyed the weirdly looked cube shaped program infront of them. The program looked like two halves of a cube stuck together by some bizarrely shaped spring, stretching and going back in a repeating motion. This is an enemy program, we must beat it.

"U-Uhhhh... Commands... I-I don't know..."

"Just tell me whatever you want me to do except run!"

Rachelle's shoulders jolted in surprise at the sudden aggressiveness of Saber. Tears welled up at her eyes yet she tried to keep them in.

"Geez! Then just attack it until you defeat it!"

"Got it."

With a determined glance, Saber lunged like the wind at the enemy program with her large machete at her side. One! The blonde delivered a strong slash to the side of the enemy program. Its wound glitched and flashed disorderly as the blade continued to dig down deep into its spring. The program was unable to attack nor counterattack, Saber smiled at this. Looks like her Master has some uses.

Two! Saber brought her sword high above and slashed the enemy program from its head down to its opposite head. Distortions and sparks flew at the air as the blonde swordsman continued to deal blow after blow at its body, chipping and damaging the inorganic program down to the data it was already was.

"Saber, watch out!"

"Huh?"

A surprised yelp came from Saber's voice as she unexpectedly turned the machete defensively in time. The program tried to smash her in using one of its ends, a totally unpredictable move from it towards Saber. The blonde struggled for power as the program tried to smash through her guard, her hand shook, her arm ached yet she did not give up.

Never.

With a strong howl of strength, Saber used her other arm and drawed out the kris blade from its sheath behind her back. The blonde girl glared strongly beneath her helmet and twisted her body with one fast motion and struck the enemy program with the blade of the kris, rendering it stunned and unable to do anything against Saber's next attack.

Three.

Extra attack! Saber exhaled for a moment, gaining her power and momentum in one blow. She jumped off high in the air, gathering all her force and velocity with a somersault and with a satisfying clashing, shattering sound of metal and data-

*shing*

Saber tore the program into two separate pieces, flying it off the sides with no hopes of it recovering back. The enemy program wriggled and withered despairingly for a few seconds before dissipating into black soot and soon, turned into nothing.

"That was close..."

Saber commented as she swung her machete to the side and sheathed her kris back to its scabbard. She brought up a hand and tipped her helmet slightly before turning to Rachelle.

"Now, do you have ANY excuses on why you were day dreaming in the midst of a battlefield, Master?"

An infuriated heat came out from Saber's glare which made her Master drip sweat both from fear and the actual heat emanating from her. She's angry, she's most definitely upset!

"I... Uhh... Haha... No sorry."

Rachelle gave a wry smile and scratched the back of her head which served to further increase the fury of her Servant. Ohhhh shit.

"B-But! That was really cool of you Saber! L-Like how you did those slashes and... And that finisher move like... Wow! You're awesome Saber!"

"Hmph, of course I am. That's only natural of the Saber class."

"Ahaha... Sure..."

Did that calm her down? I hope so.

"Anyways, look at where that Klein disintegrated. Aren't you going to get it?"

Rachelle cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner and looked the far end of path. Above the place where that so-called 'Klein' disintegrated, is a small blue box connected electrically to the floor. Blue lines gridded its sides and edges, the red haired girl curiously checked it out in all angles, side, top, bottom, and the corners. Is this perhaps... A treasure chest?!

"Oh... Ohhh!"

Rachelle placed her hand excitedly at the chest box with an unconstrained excitement for some reason. Saber sweat dropped as she watched her Master from the side, grab the piece of shard inside the box...

"Oh..."

...and get her energy died when she found out what it was.

"...Why were you so excited in the first place? It's just a normal healing item."

"Eh...I thought it was a treasure chest and it has gold so..."

Gloom lines hovered over the red haired girl's face as her posture slumped with the disappointment of having no treasure in a chest. The blonde girl furrowed her eyebrows worriedly and tipped her helmet slightly downward.

My Master is an idiot.

With a sigh of neither exasperation or annoyance, Saber patted her dear idiotic Master's head gingerly and comforted her. It was like babysitting a younger sister, Saber thought Masters are supposed to be capable and mature... Apparently, hers is quite a queer exception to that assumption.

I have no choice...

"Come on Master, we can find more chests somewhere in here. There might be some gold inside it so let's go and train some more, shall we?"

With a gentle smile, the Servant raised her Master's head up. Green, enchanting irises met with teary eyed red ones, Rachelle felt her cheeks fill up with blood as she continued to stare at Saber. For some reason, her heart is beating fast and her mind relaxes every time she smiles at her like that. She wonders if she really has this effect to anyone... It was kind of scary but comforting.

Rachelle nodded to her Servant's words and picked herself up. That's right, this journey is far from over. My adventure only starts NOW!

The red haired girl gave a cheering yell and pumped her fists up in the air. With a light skip, Rachelle went along the straight path, in find of her adventure spirit. Saber sighed from the back and slowly followed her ever strange Master. She raised up a hand and tipped her helmet a bit, covering her green irises.

I wish I wouldn't have to use that in its fullest power.

* * *

 _-NIGHT-_

* * *

"Ahhhh! I'm tiiiiired!"

Stretching sounds came from Rachelle as they walked within the academy's darkly lit hallways. For some reason, when they exited the Arena the time changed into the deep mellows of night and the digital moon has risen in its full insane glory. Rachelle could have swore they were only there for a few hours or even less than one of it. Does time flow differently in that place?

"Anyways, that priest said our private room is at... Where again?"

"2-B. Geez, that's what you get for bouncing around like a little girl in the Arena. Are you sure you didn't get hit in the head, Master?"

"How rude! I... I just really forgot it, ehe~ "

An unamused glare comes from Saber, beneath her helmet towards Rachelle. Suddenly, the blonde haired girl sighed and moved her head from side to side as if cracking some stiff joints within it.

"Whatever... I'm also tired, I don't have the energy to deal with your naivety right now. I want a nice bath when we go back to our room."

"Abandoning your straight man job? Well... I guess that works."

Their steps echoed lazily along the staircase. Tapping of sandals and rubber soles sounded in a rhythm within the empty halls of the academy, until they reached the door of a certain room in the second floor.

"So, I just have to place my terminal here right?"

"Yes. Have you inputted the password already?"

"I did it while you were fighting! Aren't I sneaky?"

A joke, a deadpan expression.

Rachelle pouted at Saber's reaction and huffed angrily while turning her back against her. She stuck her hand into her pocket and fished out the little portable terminal, Sakura Matou has given her. With a gentle force of hand, the red haired girl placed the terminal in a rectangle shaped space. The terminal connected with the door, blue lines, parallel and perpendicular but never intersecting glowed brighter as data flowed from it towards the little barrier to the room.

Its soft whirring sound lasted for a few moments before a sharp kchak sound came from the other end of the door. Rachelle removed her terminal from it and with a dainty hand at its handle, she slid the door to the side, revealing their very own private room.

"Whoa..."

For the second time this day, Rachelle gasped in awe at the sights in front of her. The walls are nothing like the academy's hexagonal riddled ones instead, arranged bamboo pieces lined up along its perimeter. Ornamental plants and fake paper windows adorned its walls along with a beautiful chandelier hanging above the ceiling. A single, king size white bed sits in the middle of the room on top of a fluffy, brown carpet and some sort of... Straw mat? Lays beside it on the floor.

Why does the mat have a pillow?

"Hey Sabe-"

As Rachelle turned to the her side to ask her Servant about the mat. Her words stopped and dried at her throat, her eyes widened and gaped, and her whole face flushed red as she saw her Servant butt naked in all her light browned skin glory facing a pool of hot steaming water. Saber turned her shoulders around as she removed her helmet and ponytail off her hair, letting loose those golden yellow locks comparable to golden wheat reflecting the sun rays down to half of her back.

"Hm? What is it Master?"

"I... Uhh... W-Why are you naked?"

Rachelle clutched her chest in order to try and stop her heart from loudly beating. Why am I even flustered about this?! We're both girls!

"...? Do you usually go to bath with clothes on, Master?"

Oh... Right.

"Still! You should have said something! I was surprised!"

"I already said before, I want a nice bath when we get back to our room. Surely you have no reason of depriving me that desire, Master? "

Rachelle pursed her lips shut at that argument. That's true, Saber wanted to take a bath when we get here... Still, seeing someone suddenly naked at your side is...!

The sound of rushing water fills her ear and the soft rippling of water as Saber stepped in the bath one foot at a time. The water flows out slightly from the hot spring pool and into its drainage. Blonde hair was raised using Saber's hands as she moved to the edge of the pool. With a contented sigh, the blonde haired relaxed coolly while rotating her shoulders slightly. Rachelle found herself staring at her Servant as she closed her eyes in pleasure.

Her clothes usually cover most of her body but seeing it bare naked still gives her those mesmerizing feelings she had while looking at her eyes. Lightly browned beautiful skin in its flesh, while its certainly not that smooth due to small scars tattered at it here and there, it was still enough to capture anyone's eyes if they laid on it. Rachelle never thought that her blonde hair would shine starrily beautiful once it was soaked and wet with water. Maybe its because she's always wearing a helmet? She should let her hair down more often.

"What's wrong Master? You're staring at me weirdly."

"Eh? Am I?"

"Don't tell me... What that Vairu said was true. You're a perve-"

"NO I'M NOT! Saber you idiot!"

A snicker escapes from Saber's lips and continues on to be a full laughter at her mouth. Giggling softly like a girl on her night out. A Servant teasing her Master, a rare but not an unheard situation.

"Anyways, Master I have something to tell you."

"What is it..."

Rachelle said still pouting from the earlier joke on her.

"Well you see... How do I say this... I can't fully tap into my powers for some reason. Although, it's probably because of your incompetence as a magus."

What? Saber can't go all out? And its because of me? Without realizing it, the red haired girl's face turned into a mortified expression in an instant.

"...I'm sorry, you don't have to look so down. No revolution starts off big, we can slowly improve as we progress higher, Master. I'm sure we can improve ourselves step by step and by hard work."

Saber smiled between her water soaked bangs. Rachelle found herself doing the same and changed her expression in an instant.

"Now then, go to sleep Master. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Yeah! Thank you, Saber!"

The night falls awaiting for the next dawn of the morning.

* * *

 **Am I getting annoying? I'm so sorry... Please read and review!**


	3. Chapter 2 Intel Gathering!

**Hello everyone, I'm back again! So, preliminaries has started for us and everyone is stressed at this hell week. I'm sorry if the updates will get irregular from now on. Then again I said that in the prologue right? N-Nevertheless! I shall apologize! It is rude for me to keep my precious readers from writing!**

 **So this chapter exceeded my expected word count by 4k. I-I swear I tried to limit it but it just feels short if I do. Now its too long... how problematic. A-Anyways, if anyone of you has a suggestion on how I will write these kind of chapters in the future please leave a review. I'll try my best to become better! Now onwards and onwards and never backwards!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here except for one nor am I affliated with the original Fate series. I wish I am though._

* * *

-MIDDAY-

* * *

"Hm? Intel gathering?"

"Yes, this is a war so information is highly valuable in this time. Master, we should try to look for clues against our opponent."

Rachelle hummed, deep in thought as she continued to munch through her yakisoba bread. For a world made by a super computer, their food in the commisary tastes delicious as you would expect in real life. Then again it might be the fact that it was made by a super computer hence why it's so delicious.

"Master, are you listening?"

Saber spoke up, a little angrier than before while maintaning her spirit form. The other Masters are also in the commisary so it is wise for her to stay invisible to the eyes of many.

"Yes, yes, I'm listening but... How can we find information about our opponent if we don't even know their name?"

A legit question as of the moment. As Rachelle questioned this, a small chiming sound came from her pocket. Immediately, the red haired girl stuck her hand inside her pocket and fished for the noisy sounding terminal. She flipped the rectangular thing face up, and began reading through the single sentence written on it.

 _The next combatants are announced at the second floor's bulletin board._

Speak of the devil. Rachelle pocketed her terminal hastily and crumpled the wrapper of the bread, throwing it with a clean shot into a nearby garbage bin at the area. Her first opponent... Her first to be murdered... Or murderer... Who will it be? With a sense of dread and a feeling of doom, Rachelle set off with a brisk pace to the second floor.

* * *

No... No...

A red haired girl stood in front of the bulletin board in the second floor, her face was as pale as chalk and her eyes are wide in a horrified manner. Not a single word can be heard from her, bullets of cold sweat dripped down from her forehead to her neck. How can this be? Why...?

In the bulletin board lies a single piece of paper. Two names were written in it, clad in a despairingly red ink. The first name was the red haired girl's, Rachelle Ray Borham. The second one is...

 _Master Noir Eclair. Battlefield First Chimeric Lunar Sea_

Noir Eclair, the boy she befriended during the preliminaries. While certainly they haven't been friends for long, they still shared a bond by the little arguments they made within the library. Rachelle asked to be acknowledged and so did Noir with a whole heart and a happy smile. Now... The war has fated these two kins to fight each other to death. A short relationship, a tragic end, Rachelle refuses to understand this.

I can't fight with him...!

"...RRB sis?"

Small, weak voice came from behind of Rachelle. The red haired girl whipped her head to the other direction and came face to face with her matchmade enemy.

His hair has turned into a dark, jet black and its roots and tips has turned into bright white contrasting greatly with his dominant hair color. His eyes are now brown and gray, with brown at the left and gray at the right like two different sides of the same coin. His stature and body remained the same but something was off? Like there's a power behind him

That's weird. Rachelle could have swore he's brown haired and brown eyed when they first met. Why did it change?

"Sis! It's good to see you again!"

"Uhh... Yeah. Same to you."

A plastic smile and a forged tone. Their faces are a harmony compared to the despairing noise of their emotions. It was painful for anyone to see their forced greetings, trying to turn away their eyes from the fate created by the system.

"I never thought, I can meet with RRB sis again... And now we're each other's first time. Isn't that great?"

Noir flashed a smile as bright as a sun ray yet it holds no warmth of it. Rachelle's eyes widened and sunk in a frown at this. Why is he happy about this? One of us is going to die within the next few days... Why is he still smiling?

"...RRB sis... In this war, its normal for friends to get matched against each other. Don't take it too hard and let's do our best!"

"Noir..."

"Well then, I have to go somewhere bye bye RRB sis!"

Noir dashed off to the side in a slightly faster pace than he usually does, soom disappearing on the long hallway of the academy. Rachelle bit her lip and looked down. Why did this have to happen? Why is fate such a cruel mistress?

Warm tears flowed and dripped down to the floor as the dusk arrives.

* * *

"Master... Please raise your head."

...

A tired sigh comes from Saber's lips as she scratched the back of her head. After looking at the bulletin board, the two returned to their private room. Half because they want to rest and half because Rachelle was feeling completely down due to the announcement.

Right now, her Master's currently facing down the bed for the past five minutes. Unmoving and unchanging even with subtle movements. No emotion comes out from her nor a word from her lips, truly this creates anxiety for her dear Servant. The blonde thought deeply about her Master's reaction to the match making. There was one thing she could not understand... Perhaps it was a trait of this era? For her...

In war there are no friends. Only allies and enemies.

She could not understand why her soft hearted Master would shed tears for someone she just met at the preliminaries. What assurance does she have that Noir won't betray her? What assurance does she have that she won't be coerced into a trap by that small and charming face?

What assurance does she have that Noir considers her as a true friend?

Saber sighed the second time and laid back on the mat at the floor. Friendship these days are too complicated for me.

-meep- -meep-

...?

-mreeep- -mreeep-

"...Master. Your terminal is ringing."

The red haired girl fished out the vibrating terminal from her pocket and reached it out to Saber still facing down with no intention of reading whatsoever is in there. The blonde haired girl's eyebrows furrowed worriedly at the action, clearly she knows that her Master has no will to fight this battle anymore. What can she do to make it come back?

...I can use that but.. I'd rather not really... Do I even have a choice?

Saber raised up from her mat and went beside her Master's bed. With a soft, slightly strong voice she called her Master's name out for the third time. Same response, the same silence met her ears to which the blonde haired girl scrunched her eyebrows and nose half-worried, half-angry at this.

She couldn't bear to be fully angry at her. Maybe she is softer than she thinks so.

With quiet movements, Saber climbed on top of her Master's bed and straddled over her body without even minding that she might accidentally step on her legs or somewhere else. Her blonde locks fell down through her shoulders and ears and slid to the side of her lightly brown shapely face, cascading like a morning waterfall reflecting the yellow brightness of the sun.

She closed her eyes momentarily and opened them again, a slight ethereal glow forming in them with her aura slightly sparkling than before. A strange but not uncomfortable atmosphere fills the room, the sweet sound of heartbeats, the glisten of Saber's sweat against her neck and her pink lips uttering a single word with smooth tune and enchanting accent.

"Master."

She called again...

"Master..."

And again...

"Master...!"

And again in that mellow tone. Finally, the red haired girl grunted weakly and turned around to Saber, revealing slightly reddish eyes and tear stained cheeks. She was crying for the last few minutes... Shedding tears for someone she is about to kill.

"Master... Look at me in the eye and answer me. Do you want to live?"

A strange question. Rachelle looked directly at Saber's green irises and instantly felt her whole being heating up considerably. Her body warmed up weirdly like a fire at her heart, her heart beated fast as lightning, her cheeks became dyed with red, and her eyes widened at the sudden charm of her Servant on top of her.

Huh? Wasn't she feeling down? For some reason, Rachelle's emotions suddenly felt a ton lighter than before.

"Master... Your answer."

"Eh...? Uh, right!"

Right, Saber asked a question. I should answer! Rachelle thought as she clutched her shirt by her chest tightly with her fists turning into balls. She could feel her breath quicken through her nose and slightly through her mouth. Her ears rang with vibrations from her own heartbeat. She felt this before at the hallway and the Arena, but why is it so strong right now?

Do you want to live?

The red haired girl bit her lips and and turned her gaze to the side, away from Saber's.

"Of course I want to live. What question is that?"

Saber exhaled a small laugh and gave a smirk at this response. Instantly, Rachelle's pulse quickened ten times from what she was feeling before, her cheeks flared up like the thousand of suns in the heavens, her body bursted out into a feeling of flames and her mouth gaped open and close, trying its best to keep her breathing.

Why am I feeling this way?! N-No way... I'm...

"So... How will you do that in this war Master?"

"D-Do... Umm... I must... Win the battle?"

An affirmative nod came from Saber.

"Then?"

"Uhh... Win more?"

Saber smiled at her Master with a sweet, praising smile. Rachelle flinched blushingly at it and closed her limbs near her. There's something weird going ooonnnn!

"Master..."

The blonde haired girl lowered her head and nuzzled her face at Rachelle's white neck and soft red hair. The red haired could feel her Servant's warm breath tickling her skin, those slightly raspy exhales and her comforting heat near her. Rachelle's eyes turned dizzy and spun as her mind sprung up with both indecent thoughts and random questions for her Servant. W-Why is she doing this?! Saber I'm freakin' straight!

"I'm... Here for you."

Huh?

"That's why... Please don't cry for your upcoming battle. You have to be strong for yourself unless you want to die early in this war."

"Saber..."

"It's easy to see that you are upset with that matchmaking, however..."

Saber raised up from Rachelle's neck crease, removing the warmth she had from her Master and sat on top of her at her thighs. She's light... Very light... Then again, Servants doesn't have a real, physical body. Maybe they can change their weight regardless of appearance?

Rachelle looked directly at Saber's green, ethereally glowing green irises. Her eyelids are flat, her gaze looks condescending and her eyebrows are furrowed down to their middle line. The Master gulped with slight fear against her Servant, the previous pink aura diminished as the temperature dropped back to its normal state. Huh? Her stare has a different effect on me now?

"...That is the nature of this Holy Grail war. There are no friends, only allies and enemies. Even those previously bonded shall be severed bluntly with the spade of its cruelty. Master, bear this in mind. The Holy Grail war is no place for bonds and fun and games, it is a battlefield of blood and greed for the eternal power of the Holy Grail. This is where greed reigns over all and the humble and meek shall perish in here. You should steel your heart and strengthen your resolve Master, that is the only way."

Cold yet endearing green irises glared at red blood, ruby ones. Silence fleets past the two as the red haired girl took in all those words bestowed to her by the blonde haired. Rachelle bit her lip in frustration and looked downwards to her own hands.

She knows that. She knows it all... But what should she do? Her morals... Her own humanity...

I'm...Here for you.

Saber's here for me... She's here for me... But...

 _Never forget..._

This voice again...

 _Time is relapsing..._

Just who is this voice?

 _You're our only hope. Our beacon, Rachelle._

Huh? Her thoughts stopped, surprised of those sudden words. Our beacon? Only hope? Me?

"Master? Are you okay?"

Dazed eyes snapped back to reality and looked up to the blonde girl's worried eyes. Did I overdo it? The thought crawled on Saber's mind like little ants climbing on their hill. She silently cursed herself for her incompetence of controlling her own powers, powers that she hasn't used and practiced for a lot of reasons.

"Oh... Uh... I'm fine. Sorry Saber."

"...?"

Red eyes averted away from green ones with a slight blush painting her cheeks for god knows what reason. It could be the suggestive position they're in right now or something else entirely different. Her thoughts wandered again to the voice that played in her mind.

Hope. Beacon. Those are two words that she would never expect to describe her right now. Maybe that was the reason she joined the Holy Grail war in the first place? Someone carrying the torch of hope of the world? Then what did she hear on the first day, 'destroy the world', was that also another reason?

Is destroying the world a hope and her purpose?

All of it is illogical, surreal, implausible, how can destroying the world be a hope? Unless it can't be saved then she should let it die. If that's the case can't she just wish to save the world instead of destroying it?

Questions, all questions. When oh where are the answers? Maybe its... Inside this War?

"Master... If you keep quiet like that with a weird face, I'm going to be really worried."

The red haired girl stopped her thoughts and faced her Servant who is currently having her eyebrows upward and a transparent concern at her face.

"S-Sorry... Wait, what was that with a weird face?!"

"It was really weird. What else should I say about it?"

"It's not weird! I-I'm just thinking about things, calling it weird is rude Saber!"

A pout. A tired sigh.

Saber crossed her arms and inched her face closer to Rachelle's. None of the heart beating moments happens now, just a closer distance and an eye-to-eye talking of a Master and a Servant.

"So? What were you thinking? Even if I am your Servant, I cannot read someone's mind. I would appreciate it if you told me your thoughts since we are allies but if you wish to withold your idle mindstorm then I don't mind. You have a right to your own privacy, Master."

Saber said in a straight, stoic tone yet Rachelle could feel she was curious behind that facade. Is Saber actually child-like beneath that sharp tongue and hard face of hers?

"H-How do I say this... I heard... A voice?"

"A voice?"

"I don't know who owns it... But I can just feel its important! I don't understand what its saying nor why is it saying some things but maybe... Just maybe, I could find the answer while fighting in this war. I could just feel it..."

Rachelle clutched the chest part of her shirt with both of her hands. Her purpose... Her reason... She wants to find it... Any human being wants to find what he or she is supposed to do... Including the red haired.

"Saber... You told me you're here for me."

"Yes. I am here for you my Master. Till death do us part."

I-Isn't that a marriage line? Then again a Master and Servant bond is as deep as that.

"I..."

A pause. Rachelle took a deep breath and said her apologies to the heavens above in her mind.

"I... Made up my mind. I'll fight... And win."

Sorry Noir.

"I'll find my reason and purpose... Help me do that, Saber."

I'm sorry...

Saber smiled a slight grin at this and stood up from her position. The blonde haired went down to the floor from the bed and kneeled like a loyal steed at Rachelle's side. Their bond, their loyalty, their ties, that is what it means to be a Servant of the Holy Grail War. To live and die by the blade, that is their only purpose bound by the contract of their Master's seals.

"Whatever you do... I shall abide by your good command, my Master."

Rachelle sat on the side of the bed and gave a serene smile. Her chest warms up with comfort amd security from that statement. Someone... To help and protect me...

"By the way Master, aren't you going to check your terminal?"

Oh right. Rachelle reached out for the portable terminal at the side of the pillow and tapped it on the screen, revealing a single message written for her.

 _The primary cipher key has been generated_

Cipher key? What does that mean? The red haired cocked her head to the side with confusion. Maybe I could ask Father Kotomine, he did say I could ask him anything about the rules of this war. He probably forgot to tell that to me anyways.

Rachelle pocketed her terminal and jumped to the floor, stretching her whole body from its previous position.

"It said something about a cipher key. Let's go ask Father Kotomine about it."

"Yes, by your command."

As she said this, Saber disappeared into thin air once again with a snappy clinking sound. Rachelle wonders where their physical bodies go if they went on spirit mode. Then again, it might be just some kind of Servant-only knowledge.

None of my business. Time to go to that gloomy looking priest now!

* * *

A few minutes later...

Rachelle is regretting everything she had reasoned to even SPEAK with this priest.

As it goes with the plan, the red haired girl went outside of their private room and questioned the NPC about the cipher key that the terminal messaged about. The gloomy priest, with his gloomy tone, gloomy aura, and gloomy face spoke dutifully about the cipher keys or Triggers as he so speak of it fondly.

Apparently, a trigger is a key to the Coliseum-and a way to cull weak Masters. All Masters are required to obtain two of them during the course of the preparation period and the failure of such a menial and boring task within the the alloted time of six days will result in a default and game over for that Master.

Why two? Well, apparently the Arena is divided up to two floors and each floor has its own trigger. For conveniece, everyone labels it as Primary Trigger and Secondary Trigger and every Master will be notified if one is generated at one of the floors.

Adding to that whole lecture, Kotomine mentioned about combat being prohibited between Masters in the Arena and on campus at all times but if for some reason a fight occurs, the system will shut it down within three turns.

What three turns means is beyond Rachelle's thinking.

And for any Masters caught fighting on campus, they shall be given a penalty or a downgrading as so Kotomine said.

Of course the red haired girl had no qualms about the technical information, but as soon as she asked if he could lighten up a bit... Let's just say something triggered within him.

Oh. My. God. Someone. Make. Him. STOP.

As of now, Rachelle is currently covering her ears in a desperate attempt of keeping that god-awful light, read:depressing, song of Kotomine that has been going on for ten minutes straight without stop.

"M-Master... We're losing time... We should... Go to the... Arena..."

Saber said in an obviously pained voice. Even in spirit form, Rachelle could still feel the shortening fuse of Saber to just cut the tongue of the dark NPC to pieces and prohibit him from ever singing again. Though she was pretty sure they would suffer apocalyptic consequences if she did that.

Rachelle nodded to the invisible Saber and little by little, moved towards the railings of the stairs as he continued to sing his heart out of that... She wasn't even sure if THAT is fit to be called a song. Probably a very solemn and soul-crushingly depressing oratory or consecration.

As soon as the red haired Master reached the first steps on the stairs, she turned away from Kotomine and started a mad dash towards the direction of the Arena. The Arena is another world compared to the academy's walls and halls, she's sure she'll be safe from the hell-sent of a song of that priest. Her steps clacked loudly against the concrete floor and her breaths shortened with instant fatigue. Running past the scenes of the academy, ignoring the bewildered looks from the other Masters, Rachelle finally reached the door of the Arena and placed a hand at the metal door, catching her breath with gasps and coughs and calming the shocked leg muscles from cramping.

Let's not ask Kotomine about anything other than the rules next time.

The red haired girl wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked in front of her. Saber materialized in front of her, eyebrow twitching still looking annoyed and triggered by Kotomine's song from earlier. Uwah, even Servants gets affected?

"...Let's go, Master."

"...Y-Yeah."

With an awkward atmosphere, Rachelle pushed the door to the Arena open, filling the little space with luminiscent blue light and an otherwordly aura.

* * *

-First Chimeric Lunar Sea-

* * *

"No matter how many times we'll go here, this will be always amazing."

Rachelle gasped in awe as they once entered the Arena again. Those same blue walls, those digital floors, the overall aura of the place, the red haired feels, and will always feel that she just stepped into some other world straight out of sci-fi movie.

Then again, this whole happening is comparable to a fiction in its finest core.

"Master, be careful. I sense the other Master is also in the Arena."

Saber glared straight ahead under the shadow of her helmet. Her hand twitched impatiently against the sheath of her kris behind her as her whole guard became alert and vigilant with the alien feeling. Rachelle looked at her Servant with a slight surprise and thought. Noir is here? My enemy... Are we going to fight?

"This is a good time, Master. Let us go meet the enemy Master and fight against them, we should be able to get information from that."

"Wait, didn't Kotomine say that fighting between Masters is prohibited at all times?"

"True, but he never said there's a penalty for fighting in the Arena. The system will cut us off if we fight in here but not downgrade our capabilities. So if we fight, we'll get cut off from our battle but still retain the information we need. Its a win win situation."

Rachelle zipped her mouth at that statement. Surely that argument is solid, they wouldn't face any future long term consequences if they engaged with Noir right now and honestly she was a bit curious herself how strong Noir is.

Should I be afraid? Should I be condescending?

The red haired girl gulped loudly and nodded to Saber.

"Let's go."

The two started on their march to battle. Fast, light steps landed softly on the digital floor creating a cyber effect of squares and diamonds like the ripple of a raindrop in a shower night. Rachelle's chest pounds in nervousness, almost deafening within her ears and turns her mind into a light daze. What should I do if I meet him? What could I do? Apologize? Surrender?

The conflicting feelings sprang up once again inside her. She wanted to find her purpose yet she treasures their friendship. A combination that the wheel of fate has not agreed to it. The red haired bit her lower lip and clutched the chest part of her chest as her eyes laid upon a familiar black and white color of hair and an unfamiliar short haired tall woman beside him.

"Noir."

The petite boy turned around at the mention of his name. Brown and grey locked with red blood ones, their eyes unwavering as they met each other's gazes. A silent meeting, an uncomfortable moment, yet this two had no choice but to endure with it.

His innocent gaze still makes her flinch, her mortified look still stirs his heart up. Fate is a cruel mistress and mortals like them are forced to follow in its wake and commands.

"RRB sis..."

"G-Good evening..."

"S-Same. You also entered the Arena, huh?"

"Y-Yeah... Well it was mostly an NPC's fault why I need to take refuge here."

Rachelle looked away with a despaired face, dreading the memories of Kotomine's song replaying at her mind.

"Oh..."

"Master, is this a friend? She looks cute!"

The woman beside Noir spoke up in a very flirty and sexy way as if she has a default voice of being an entertainer for the body. Her hair is short and messy with a beautiful sparkling color of silver and white like precious jewels underground, her eyes are of a dark bluish shade reflecting the abyss of the sea and its unknown wonders and knowledge, golden bangles and rings adorned her neck and waist contrasting beautifully with her silver hair and tanned brown skin like a greek painting come to life.

Her clothes are... Unreserved to say in the least. The only fully covered part of her is her upper torso with a pink color of a cloth, adorning her body with the exception of her shoulders with its long sleeves and barely even reached the top of her abdominal muscles due to the size of those overly large blobs of fat at her chest. Her pelvic regions are topped with a low... Are those panties? Almost showing off the top part of a woman's most precious region by a centimeter. Golden boots covered her legs up to her knees, with its heels heightening her up considerably and releasing some sort of weird pheromone to everyone who sees her. Something about pain.

Tl;dr she's just overflowing with sexiness and uhh... Feast for the eyes.

I-Is this Noir's Servant? She's certainly something that would not even cross her mind when thinking of whoever his Servant is.

"P-Please don't make her uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Ahaha! Master, I'll even help her "relax" if you want! She looks soooo tasty to be served in a golden platter with flowers showered upon her."

She doesn't know why but Rachelle shuddered in fear for something precious within her and hid behind her helmet wearing Servant. W-What is with this woman?! And I thought my heartbeats quickening with Saber's is bad enough!

"I won't let you hurt my Master. Stand back, enemy of mine. I won't even let you lay a finger upon the strand of her hair."

Saber materialized her machete at her right hand and stood in a fighting stance with a distinct glare at a certain part of the enemy with her eyes. Rachelle could feel Saber was angry for something entirely else besides being a threat to her safety.

"Ara... Feisty now aren't we? I don't particularly mind but I am a bit rough towards those types. I think you can handle a bit of pain I guess?"

"I don't get what you mean but I'll accept that as a challenge towards me."

The enemy Servant just smiled and giggled with her same flirty voice. One by one she cracked the fingers at her hands with a cringe inducing loud popping sound from within it. Magic became infused with her hands, giving a slight glow within her fingers as her smile became more a confident grin and playfulness.

"Uwah... She picked a fight again. Are you fine with this RRB sis?"

"Well... My Servant also wanted this so why not?"

"Hmm... Then you have my permission."

"Thank you Master! I'll make sure to strip her down gently and nicely for you!"

Saber reading another hand to her kris and whispered to her Master as she instructed Rachelle to step back.

"Let's end this quickly Master! I have no concrete idea what this anxiety means but I feel like we're going to lose something else if she wins!"

"R-Right...!"

To think she'll have to protect her chastity like this... Rachelle just couldn't get a break from all of these events.

"Here I come!"

With that, Saber lunged at the silver haired woman with a speed close to a blur at her Master's eyes. The blonde haired girl set her machete behind her and brought it up in an upper slash as soon as she came close to her enemy. The enemy Servant just grinned and caught the machete with her bare hands, releasing surprised and shocked faces from Rachelle and Saber.

The moment her hands touched the blade of the sword, red filled Rachelle's sight with a phrase running in an endless circle at the lower part signalling a rule familiar to her.

* * *

=WARNING=

Message from SE. RA. PH》Confrontations between Masters in the Arena are prohibited.

* * *

So it was still prohibited, Rachelle thought as Saber pulled her sword out of the enemy Servant's grasp and jumped back a few paces. Saber tipped her helmet downwards, glared against the silver haired woman and readied for her counter attack in a second. With a playful grin and a slight laugh, the silver haired woman brought up a hand in front of her with her palm facing outwards to Saber.

Slight alert jolted at the blonde girl's shoulders and she immediately brought out her kris using her left hand. The blur of a magical projectile dashed towards to Saber within barely a second. With a strong swing of the two blades, Saber sliced the bullet into two and charged towards the silver haired woman with a howl of war echoing of her voice.

The silver haired woman's smile grew larger and released a bullet hell of magic shots. Blades met with mana with a satisfying echoing sound, sparks flew in the air everytime Saber slices the bullets one after another like an effortless clockwork. The battle raged on with the enemy Servant easily maneuvering out of Saber's reach.

Saber jumped out of the path of the bullet hell and delivered a slash towards the enemy Servant with her machete who easily sidestepped the blonde haired girl's normal attack.

One more time!

Saber muttered in her mind, putting all her will at the blade of her kris. The blonde haired girl lunged once more at her enemy and cut the air between them with her secondary blade, sparks and small fireworks exploded around the wake of the kris as it scratched the digital surface of the floor beneath them. With a strong magic-infused blow, the enemy Servant tackled Saber with the whole of her body while she was out of position. A resounding thud can be heard as the blonde haired girl's body glitched slightly and her torso's visuals distorted for a brief second.

* * *

=WARNING=

Message from SE. RA. PH》Hostilities will be terminated next turn.

* * *

Rachelle snapped up at the sudden change of warning as Saber struggled to stand up back to her feet. The silver haired woman grinned and fired a focused flurry of magic bullets towards the still struggling Saber. The blonde haired girl gritted her teeth in frustration and moved away from her spot forcibly as she kited that curtain of focus fire. Each step felt heavy with her taken damage and her vision ridded with the redness of pain. Since when did she become so weak?

As soon as the silver haired stopped her attacks, Saber skidded into a turning halt and lunged at the enemy Servant with both of her blades behind her body in preparation for a single strong blow. The blonde haired girl breathe in a gulp of air and once again slashed at the silver haired woman with a roar of the thunder, this time her attack connected and the enemy Servant's left side glitched and dissonated like broken pixels and strayed data.

"Nice, nice! Give me more!"

The cutting edge of the blade, the mystical sound of mana flying, their fight created a dissonance of harmony within the battlefield. Sparks flew, rage seethed and the desire for victory overflowed, slash after slash and bullet after bullet. Saber glared beneath the shadow of her helmet and strained her muscles to stay in range with the enemy Servant, even if her muscles cramped and burned taut at her movement.

Metal clashed with mana, glares received with a smile. A battle that awed Rachelle and showed her the true power of Servants.

* * *

=WARNING=

Message from SE. RA. PH》Terminating hostilities.

* * *

Rachelle's eyes widened at the warning with a dreading feeling at her spine. She had a bad feeling about it! The red haired girl opened her mouth to call on her Servant, yet not a word voiced out from her throat.

Why?!

The blonde haired once again rushed to the silver haired woman with her blades gleaming terrifyingly at the Arena's digital lights and lines. Her enemy made no movement and merely stood in her position grinning a knowing smile at the blonde haired girl.

Saber swung her blades overhead at the silver haired woman with the hot friction of the air enveloping it. With a spine shivering sound, the blade inched closer and closer to the enemy Servant's silver tresses almost cutting it close to half until...

*krish!*

"Wha-?!"

An invisible force separated the two with the force of a riding bull's horns. Saber skidded at the ground at her back with a resounding friction towards Rachelle's feet while the enemy Servant merely landed smoothly with her two feet at the ground towards her own Master.. An ever unchanging smile still plastered at her face as Rachelle worriedly went by Saber's side in a hurry, supporting her Servant with her arms at the blonde haired's back and side.

"Phew that was fun. Too bad SE. RA. PH had its eyes on us. Oh well, we'll meet in the future right?"

The silver haired woman narrowed her eyes at Saber who only answered by tipping her helmet downwards in a vague sign of affirmation or humility. Obviously, the woman did not understand this and her carefree smile turned into a disappointed frown in an instant.

"Psh... Silent type. Where did that courage from a while ago fly off?"

"N-Now... We don't have to push this far. Let's meet again at the elimination battle RRB sis!"

Noir quickly calmed his Servant down and turned to Rachelle with childish apologetic smile. The petite boy waved at the red haired girl and the two instantly disappearing from the Arena with a clinking sound leaving Rachelle and Saber by themselves with an awkward silence.

...

"U-Umm..."

"Master, if you're going to apologize please keep them to yourself. You did nothing wrong, it was only natural that we will lose at our first Servant to Servant battle since I am unable to fully tap into my abilities right now."

Saber raised her soft hands and patted her Master gingerly at her head making the latter close one of her eyes at the sudden light pressure at her hair. Rachelle couldn't determine Saber's emotions right now as her helmet blocks her face from the red haired girl's view but she was definitely sure that Saber is currently really frustrated at how that previous battle turned out.

It's probably my fault...

Saber looked at her Master from beneath the shadow of her helmet and sighed tiredly. Her Master is a real sensitive one.

"Anyways, that battle was really close and even though it was dangerous we did get some information out of it. I'm not really sure since that woman has a weird fighting style too but judging by those magic projectiles that she used, she might be a Caster."

=MATRIX LEVEL 1= Enemy Servant Info Obtained!

"Sometimes we'll find clues and other advantages against our opponent in the Arena. Also, some of these information are highly time restricted and only appears for let's say, a day only. That's why make sure we've checked the whole Arena before leaving, do you get it Master?"

Rachelle nodded diligently at Saber's suggestion. She barely knows the happenings of the Holy Grail War, it would be unwise to pay an ignorance pence to Saber's words right now. The blonde haired girl smiled slightly at her Master's willingness to learn, she reminded her of her time when she was still alive.

It's like having a younger sister to teach.

Saber grunted as she lifted her body up to the standing position. She brushed off some non-existent dust from her clothes and readjusted her helmet according to her comfort. The blonde haired girl stretched out her limbs in order to remove some built up fatigue in it before turning back to her Master with an outstretched hand.

"Let's go Master, we still have a cipher key to find in this place."

A slight pause remained at Rachelle's face before beaming happily with affirmation to Saber. The Master accepts her Servant's hand as the latter pulls her up to her own feet in a swift and smooth motion. Her cheerful smile brings a similar expression to Saber's face, curling her lips upward and the two begun humming a cheerful tone as they explored more of the Arena.

I guess my Master is going to be alright now.

Saber thought to herself, awaiting the hard challenges the future has in store for them

* * *

DAYS REMAINING 3

-EVENING-

* * *

"Ahhh... I'm really tired."

Rachelle complained as she plops her head down at the commissary's hard table, her cheeks squished like soft mochi due to the weight of her head and the opposing force of the surface.

Two days has passed since that hard battle at the Arena. Ever since then, the red haired girl has asked various people on how to strengthen her Servant for the upcoming battles. Others feigned ignorance, others shunned her away, while a select few had a kind heart and told her that she could do an Alteration of the Soul at the school chapel. Rachelle, a newbie but certainly not an idiot, immediately thanked those people and dragged her Servant forcibly, much to the blonde's annoyance, to the school's chapel.

When the two got into the chapel, Rachelle could only comment on two words. Dark and silent. The red haired knew that chapels or churches was supposed to be quiet to preserve its holiness and solemnity being a house of God and all of that. What she didn't expect was why it was THAT quiet like that place hates humans or something of the sort.

"And why was that place dark too... It's weird, right Saber?"

"That was the one that weirded you out, Master? I never expected you to be the aesthetic focused kind of person."

Saber commented snidely, earning a glare from her Master's eyes.

"Anyways if its anything, the ones who caught my attention are the caretakers of that chapel. Those two have... A cat and dog relationship for sisters, blood related or not."

Ah right. Rachelle's eyebrows raised as she thought back to those two women at the chapel. She could recall their name was Aoko Aozaki and Touko Aozaki and despite being sisters, they look at each other with hatred and resent that Rachelle wasn't even sure if she should call them sisters anymore.

Atleast they helped strengthen Saber.

Rachelle thought as she closed her eyes, remembering that time in the chapel. They explained that the Alteration of Soul was simply put, linking her soul with Saber in order to fortify those links and raise certain aspects of her ability. Additionally, Saber can retrieve some of her former power by continuously upgrading those links as far as Rachelle can.

Nodding to this explanation, the red haired girl urged Saber to try the ritual with her and the women also agreed wholeheartedly. While having some uncanny suspicions, Saber went to the middle of the altar and gave them permission to do the linking. Rachelle couldn't properly describe what happened next, but all that she knows is that it looks really awesome.

Red, crystal liquid surrounded the blonde girl in a cylindrical shape, the dim light reflecting against it like a cascading waterfall in a morn's wake. Soon, hexagonal tiles glowed and brightened in a confusing pattern. Some tiles released some weak power overflow outside the cylinder, turning star white and back to ruby red until the whole altar shook with power and was engulfed in a bright light blinding the Master for a few good seconds.

When the light died down, Saber stepped off the altar and looked at her Master, looking newly refreshed and regenerated. It was kind of weird but not in a bad way for the red haired girl.

"By the way Saber, how much did your abilities change since the alteration?"

"Well... My strength and endurance raised up to D rank and I got back two of my skills. Honestly, it feels really good to have my magic circuits tuned so well. We should visit them more often, Master."

Saber flexed her fingers and arms while grinning excitedly at her new power. Rachelle watched the blonde girl from the other side of the table and smiled contently with that reaction. Who wouldn't be satisfied when your typically snide and sarcastic Servant suddenly turned like an excited child just by one ritual done to her? Rachelle laughed softly at this thought.

"W-What's so funny, Master?"

"Oh nothing! Nothing at all!"

Saber narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her Master and pouted. Uwah... Cute, wait what? The red haired girl shook that thought off hastily and stood up from her current position, with her arms supporting her ascend.

"Anyways, what should we do now Saber? We could go to the Arena and train or sideway somewhere, what do you say?"

"How about the library? Surely you haven't forgotten what I said about information being vital in this war."

The library? Well certainly that is a good place to find information. The red haired girl thought to herself, pinching her chin with her thumb and forefinger as a sign of thinking. She still remembered during her time in preliminaries. Distressed and distraught, she found solace and knowledge within the library. Those vast shelves of information, those neatly piled and sorted books, the smell of paper against her nose despite being in a digital world.

It was also there where I found most of my answers regarding this Holy Grail War.

She brought up a hand to her chest as she remembered those times. That hopeless feeling, that lost sense... Now, she has no choice but to fight. Rachelle shook those thoughts away again and steeled her gaze. She doesn't have time to doubt herself again, she won't let herself be killed easily. Yes, she will prevail over what fate has brought upon her.

"Let's go Saber!"

* * *

An hour passed...

A loud sigh and a defeated groan echoed out of the red haired girl as she promptly fell to the floor in defeat. Her whole mood changed for the negative to the point blue, depressed lines can be seen forming around her.

There's nothing in here! Nothing, none, zero!

Rachelle slumped even further while ruffling her hair messily, groaning exasperatedly and weirdly, earning her some bewildered stares from the other Masters currently in the library. What in the heavens is this?! I thought Tsumikahara library has EVERYTHING we need?! This is illegal! False advertisement!

"Master, get up! You're making the others uncomfortable with your indecent display!"

Saber whispered to the red haired girl while still maintaining her spirit form. Apparently, the shock was too hard on her Master that she forgot she was in a public place before groaning like that.

"Pfft... What is this pathetic position I'm seeing RRB?"

"Guh..."

An anoyingly familiar haughty voice came from behind Rachelle. Red glaring irises turned to meet jet black sneering ones and instantly the atmosphere turned from defeat to contempt in two seconds flat.

"What do you want, Tohsaka?"

Wow, her words are filled with anger already. Saber remarked while still hidden from plain sight. She didn't think a certain black-red will have this much effect on her red-black Master for a long time. Girls are scary.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to visit the library, is it not allowed?"

Tohsaka remarked with a sarcastic tone and a condescending stare. No wonder Rachelle thinks of her as a bitch... That description just flows out of her. Ice queen made colder.

"Hmph... Well I don't have time to bicker with you for long. I'm looking for something or someone."

"Hmm... Is that someone your enemy? Who was that... Noir Eclair?"

Rachelle's eyes widened and surprise and turned with concern for that 'enemy' of hers. Tohsaka raised an eyebrow at this reaction and crossed her arms across her chest. She knew Rachelle was soft hearted but she never thought she would pay concern for her enemy.

"Have you seen him Tohsaka?"

"Hmm... I may or may have not. Who cares?"

A flippant answer. An intense glare.

"Okay okay, sheesh. I saw him a while ago run to the Arena with a bunch of white books at hand. He looks like he was running away from someone too."

White books? For what reason? She remembers he was also carrying white books when they first met, were they related somehow?

"Master, while I may have some suspicions regarding this girl, we should heed her testimony and run after Noir in the Arena."

Saber said in a vigilant, suspicious tone as she whispers to her Master. Maybe Saber has caught up to something?

"There are some blank spaces on one of the shelves you visited and there's a high chance that the books Tohsaka said that she saw came from there. She also said he was running away from someone so if we are to believe that and the books then we can only come up to one conclusion."

"Those books has some relation to his Servant?"

Saber nodded invisibly behind Rachelle in which the Master promptly felt. Rachelle hummed to herself in silent thinking. If what Saber said was true, then why the Arena? If those are truly incriminating evidence against his Servant, wouldn't he be better off hiding it in his room?

"Hey, don't just go silent and make me look like an idiot here RRB! Sheesh... And I even gave you a hint to go somewhere."

"Ah sorry Tohsaka... Completely forgot about you."

"Wha-?!"

"Anyways, thanks for the info! I'll be going now!"

"Wait- get back here Rachelle Ray Borham!"

Wind swept by the black haired girl as the red haired dashed out of her way outside the library and towards the Arena. Tohsaka gnashed her teeth and turned red with annoyance towards Rachelle, to the point she continued shouting at her in the hallway despite the ignoring of Rachelle.

"Master... You're a scumbag."

"I said my thanks, didn't I?"

"Well yes but... Ugh... I shouldn't be discussing this with you."

A light laughter while running.

"I'll properly say my thanks when I rub into her face that I'm clearly not a dog feed in this war. I'll show her!"

* * *

-First Chimeric Lunar Sea: Second Floor-

Light footsteps came out from the portal connecting the Arena and the academy, each pressure created ripples of squares and diamonds against the blue, digital floor. One of its owner was a girl with long ruby red, flowing hair. Her clothes consist of a shirt with a darker shade of red, showing her slight collarbone and a long jet black jacket covering the whole of her arms up to her buttocks. Her pants are of the same color of the void and a pair of blood red running shoes covered her feet.

The other was a bleach blonde haired girl with a straw hat helmet covering the crown of her head and its shadow obfuscating her facial features. Rugged bandages wrapped around the length of her hands up to the joint of her elbow and forearms and her feet, up to her ankles and ended at her knees. A dirty white shirt with the helmet's straps crossing across it in an intersection covers her whole upper torso. A neckerchief with a courageous color of red adorned her neck with its untied end growing down up to her chest and nape at the back. Brown, teared trousers covered her lower body, its cloth obviously went through numerous hardships as if it was repeatedly hacked and tattered in battle of unknown intensity.

"Why am I being described only now? I'm the protagonist!"

"Master, what did I say about breaking the fourth wall?"

"...sorry."

With an annoyed pout and an apologetic face, the two ran to explore the new floor around them. Earlier while running towards the Arena, the red haired girl received yet another message at her terminal. Of course as part of her Master duties, Rachelle immediately brought out the rectangular piece of device and read the clear message in it.

 _The second cipher key has been generated on the second floor._

Rachelle remembered what Kotomine said to her when she asked about the cipher keys. The Arena is divided into two floors and each floor has its own cipher key, or trigger, to be acquired within the due time of a week. A simple but menial task, nevertheless important to keep this system intact.

I still have three days to get the trigger, maybe finding Noir is a better goal for now.

The red haired girl nodded to herself as she looked at their surroundings. The second floor did not look anything like the previous floor. While true it still has the blue grids and tiles that they are currently on, what was outside those stepping floors are a complete foreign surrounding to both the Master and the Servant.

Everything felt like it was deep in the abyss, wood debris and stagnant bubbles floated at their place within the surrounding ocean of dark blue. Rachelle could see some ruins, resembling a city or a town, deep down in a distance below them. Concrete, little houses and roofed huts, parks and glorified fountains of unknown personifications, statues and towering heights of patternized pillars littered the whole of them as if it was a sunken city of many ages ago.

The red haired girl narrowed her eyes and turned her eyebrows in a worried manner. Did this sunken city happen back then?

"Master, wait a minute."

Saber's voice snaps her Master out of her thoughts and the red haired girl immediately halted her tracks in front of the blonde.

"What is it, Saber?"

"Look at this wall then touch it."

Cocking her head to the side in confusion, Rachelle followed her Servant's hidden gaze at a certain tile at the wall beside them, then looked back at her Servant with a bewildered gaze as she saw nothing wrong with it. Saber sighed exasperatedly and grabbed a hold of her Master's left wrist in an abrupt manner.

"S-Saber?"

"Honestly, what am I? A Servant or a babysitter? Anyways, here."

With her guiding arm, the blonde led her gullible Master to an invisible, hidden passage through the wall. The next tile appeared every step of them, foot by foot, trudge by trudge, in a cyberspace felt way. Rachelle's face whitened and heart pounded badly against her chest in an irrational fear of heights. These tiles looks so transparent compared to the normal ones, t-they won't fall off, right? The red haired Master squeezed tightly at Saber's hand, clutching it with her dear life despite the assuring bandaged grasp of the blonde girl.

"It's likely that the other Master might have hidden the books here. Master, stop clutching my hand and open that box over there."

"B-But..."

"What... Must I deal with your fear of heights too? You won't fall off here, if you ever fall off then I'll grow wings just to catch you from falling."

What is that sudden pick up line out of nowhere?! And why did I feel like blushing from that?!

"Geez... I-If anything happens bad, I'm blaming you Saber!"

"Sure sure. Just get on with it."

With a trembling hand and shaky, unstable knees, Rachelle touched the surface of that lone orange box at the small island they were currently on. Her touch registered with its digital power lines, flowing electric currents ran across its edges, processing and registering before opening up to the red haired girl. The Master picked up one of the books from the stack sitting inside the box with a single hand and flipped its pages.

Broken lines, formatted into poems and passages. Explicit writing, where Rachelle desperately averted her eyes from its context, filled every page of it from top to bottom. A beautiful handwriting, written in some ancient text that the red haired could barely read but for some reason, she knew every single word inscribed in there in its translation. It's different from what she originally saw but they were similar, too similar to each other.

No mistaking, these are the books Noir was reading during the preliminaries.

"Why are you just flipping it? That's a vital piece of information, Master. You shouldn't just scan it like that!"

"B-But..."

Rachelle's mouth curled into an uncertain frown and her cheeks flared up as she remembered that time she read a passage of this book. No no no, there's no way. There's absolutely no way a pure, fragile, maiden like me is going to read something like that again!

Saber's eyebrows furrowed angrily and snatched the book from her Master with an obvious ticked off aura coming from her. The blonde huffed at her childish Master in exasperation and started reading the book from its middle pages.

Five seconds passed...

Ten seconds passed...

A minute passed...

Three minutes passed...

"Oh... I see why you didn't want to read this."

Saber closed the book with a resounding thud and a neutral expression painted at her face as she tapped its spine at her shoulder carelessly. With a thinking sound, she closed her eyes and tipped her helmet down in a slightly apologizing way to Rachelle and spoke in a much more low and calm voice than before.

"I... Extend my apologies Master. I didn't think that my request would force a maiden like you to read such explicit material of _homoerotica_."

=MATRIX LEVEL 2= Enemy Servant Info Obtained!

"Homoerotica?"

Rachelle tilted her head to the side in a childish, questioning manner. An innocent gaze, ah my Master. How can you be so defiled yet so ignorant of this world?

"It's basically anything that depicts erotic love between two people of the same sex. This one, is about the love of two females."

"W-What? But that's lewd!"

"And I conclude that from reading the passages. Anyways, from what I can see your enemy Master's Servant can have two possibilities. It's either she's the author of these passages or she's a character in these passages."

Saber flipped the pages of the book to its far end in a fast motion and continued with her deducted reasoning with a single break.

"But as far as I'm concerned, I'm highly sure that she's the author of these passages."

"Eh? What makes you say that? I mean, there is a fifty-fifty chance it's the other."

Rachelle retorted in a sound logic of the situation. However, Saber's fingers stopped at a certain page at the far end of the book quite abprutly before she turned it upright to her Master with a finger pointing at a certain spot within the page.

This spot is altered... Rachelle can deduce that much with her apparent incompetence in technical matters. That lone spot in the page had numerous distortions and glitches around it like data being corrupted by a virus or something. Its white, digital specks flew off from the face of the book, slowly and disappearing into thin air within a few seconds like a transient snowflake in the sky after the cold winter.

"As you can see, only this part has been hacked. The end of the book is usually where authors write their pen names or signatures in order to signify their artistry work in the piece or passage. If it happens that her pen name is her known name in this war then, I wouldn't be surprised if the enemy would panic in order to hide that vital piece of information."

Ah, that sounds about right. Rachelle nodded to the profound explanation of her Servant as she crossed her arms in a thinking motion. A Servant's true name, according to Saber, is one of the most vital pieces of information in this Holy war aside from the Servant's cause of death and their abilities. Their true name will give way to various other complicated information such as their history, their birth dates, their personality, etc. Etc. And will certainly destroy that Servant in battle through the war of knowledge. Still, if such a piece of information was so important, why did Noir hide it here or why didn't he just destroy these books altogether?

"Ah..."

Saber jumped alert, and turned to glare at a particular side of the Arena beneath the shadows of her helmet.

"...We've been had. They were watching us all along, Master. Prepare yourself, they're coming right here."

What?! The red haired girl heart was panic stricken all of a sudden. Her eyes widened in fear, her limbs placed themselves in a shaky, inward position and cold sweat ran down her cheeks and neck. W-W-What should I do? I'm still not confident I can win against them yet!

"I should have said this before but, Master. Do you know about Formal Wear?"

Rachelle looked at her Servant in a questioning manner and gave a negative sound of 'no, I don't'.

"Formal Wear are equipment that has an embedded Mystic Code in them. Some of those skills can be used in battle while some can only be used outside of it. From what I know, your coat has a mystic code in it. Don't ask me how to activate it though, I can just feel its presence since you're my Master."

What? My coat is special? Rachelle brought up her arms and looked at the sleeves of her jet, black coat with a confused expression. I can't feel anything though. Maybe Saber was imagining things?

The red haired girl's senses alerted as she heard the sounds of footsteps in the near distance. White hair flowed at a distance, messy but at the same time enchanting to someone's sight. At the front of her is a familiar boy of small stature. His hair is a dominant jet black with white roots and tips running down through its smooth strands. He looks nervous too... Is it because of these books?

What do I do Noir?

Finally, the steps came to a halt. Narrowed wood brown and pale gray eyes met with widened blood red, ruby ones. Their eyes met with an aura of one sided malice from the black-white haired boy. Their Servants did the same, sky, azure ones stared down at the shadows of Saber's helmet. Unknown to the enemy Servant, the blond hair's emerald, green ones were doing the same contempt to her as her Master.

"Oh my... They found our secret stash. What do we do, Master?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Noir almost shouted at his Servant, a sense of urgency and impatience at his tone.

"We need to get it back! If they read all of that, we'll be in a very bad position!"

"Hmmm..."

"For someone who is about to have her true name found out, you're pretty calm. Have you perhaps given up?"

Saber commented without friendliness, her hand itched at the hilt of her kris behind her and Rachelle could feel the almost tangible hostility from her at the side, wanting to strike and deliver a good blow at Noir's Servant. However, the red haired could really sense that she was angry at her for entirely different reasons other than being their enemies in a war.

Was it my imagination?

"Given up? Oh my, whatever are you spouting with your mouth Saber? I can't possibly give up, not after my Master is my number one fan in the universe!"

Number one fan? That's a weird title to give to her Master.

"Hey!"

"But yeah, I don't feel like losing to the likes you so I'll be taking those books back if you don't mind little red~"

The silver haired Servant stretched her hand out to Rachelle in an obvious fake attempt of being friendly. Rachelle took a step back at this gesture and hugged the white book at her arms in a fear possessive manner.

"N-Not a single chance-!"

"Now now, little red. I wouldn't want to destroy that cute face of yours inside out, aight? Don't make this hard for me."

All of a sudden her demeanor changed, the last sentence dripped with the unknown hostility before that it made the red haired girl feel shivers along her spine. She was scary as a sexual offender, now she's scarier with that contempt at her being!

"S-Saber..."

"Please step behind my back Master. I won't allow this vile beauty tarnish even a bit of your purity!"

"Vile beauty hmm? Pretty confident words right there Saber. Are you sure this won't turn out like last time?"

The enemy Servant's hands glowed like their previous encounter, only the playfulness from her face is completely gone like a sand castle swept by the ocean's currents. The blonde haired's lips curled upwards in an ecstatic smile, grinning with excitement at the situation in front of her.. Finally, a chance to test out her new magic circuits!

"Of course it won't. Watch carefully my Master, I shall demonstrate the power of information right in front of you!"

In a blink of an eye, Saber materialized her trusty machete at her hand and lunged towards the silver-haired woman in front of her with the hilt of the blade clutched at both of her palms. The silver haired woman narrowed her eyes in concentration and once again enveloped her hands in mana to parry Saber's fast strike. Metal clashed with mana, a loud sound shook the usually still air of the Arena, scaring away the flying programs and making both of the Masters flinch at that sudden auditory stimulus to them.

The silver haired woman, widened her eyes in sudden shock and gnashed her teeth as she felt her knees and legs being pushed back by the sheer strength of Saber's blow. It was nothing like before... No, it was like before only multiple times folded stronger than before!

"What is this...? Did you take pills or something before going here?"

"I don't rely on shady stuff like that. En garde, writer of poems! This is my revenge for the last time!"

* * *

=WARNING=

Message from SE. RA. PH》Confrontations between Masters in the Arena are prohibited.

* * *

Once again, Rachelle's vision filled with red and a string of warning looped all over the lower part of her vision. SE. RA. PH. has its eyes on us again, Saber make this quick!

As if telepathically reminded, Saber howled a strengthening voice to herself and dealt another strong blow towards the enemy Servant. Her machete clashed loudly with the enemy's defense, the silver haired woman's arms glitched and distorted from the amazing amount of damage she just received from that breaking attack.

Saber followed with a quick slash from the side, unrelenting and never intending to give the enemy Servant a chance to breathe. Slash after slash, hack after hack, a flurry of blurred lines came from Saber with a one handed grip on her machete as the silver haired woman whose class is still unknown tried to fend off some of the attacks with her own mana projectile.

With a visible gnashing of teeth, the enemy Servant raised both of her hands against the blonde haired girl and threw a massive sized mana projectile towards Saber. A grin played at Saber's lips beneath the shadow of her helmet with a playfulness and an excitement she never felt before.

I can read it... Her movements...

So this is what it feels like to be dominant on someone. No wonder she was always smiling the last time.

The blonde haired girl parried the mana bullet with her blade but instead of slicing it into two, she redirected its force towards the endless ceiling of the Arena with a smooth movement and delivered a slash towards the enemy Servant with a quick draw of her kris. The silver haired woman, obviously caught off guard from the sudden counterattack, gritted her teeth at the pain from the damage distorting the visuals at the area of its impact.

Got her...!

With a moment's breath as the enemy Servant was reeling from the continuous damage, Saber leapt off the air with her two feet, raised her two blades above her head and with a strong sound from her throat.

"Take this!"

She brought down the sharp edges of the metal, a light x-pattern crossed right at the enemy Servant's body with the speed of Saber's slash in front of their eyes. A shrill scream of pain resounded throughout the whole area, sending shivers and fluctuating heat on everyone who heard it. Green eyes reflected narrowed azure ones, pixels of distortion flew from the silver haired's body, triumphant grin responded by a pained look at her face. The two gave one final clash, metal versus mana, and jumped off back to their Masters.

"W-Wow..."

Rachelle squeaked with awe as she gazed upon Saber's stance in front of her. Her golden locks waved so perfectly behind her nape, her bandaged arms looked ever so mighty than before and her over all aura...

This is... The power of my Servant...

"Master, do you see the power of information now?"

The blonde suddenly asked, making the distracted red hair jerk her shoulders upward in surprise.

"What? Oh uh yeah!"

Uwah, I spent too much time admiring her!

"...That doesn't sound convincing. Anyways, be prepared at all times. We still can't let down the fact that you're the more incompetent Master than Noir, they might catch us by surprise even when I can overpower his Servant using my D rank strength. If you have to use a healing item or a Mystic Code please don't hesitate to do so, I'll trust your judgement on that."

Saber trusts me? For some reason that ebbed up a wonderful warm feeling inside Rachelle. She still feels cold though, I wonder when can she totally open up to me.

"Let's go!"

The blonde haired declared as she rushed towards the silver haired woman, both blades crossed at her front protecting her assault from possible obstacles. The enemy Servant gave a wry smile and readied her own stance to take the attack. Magic crackled once more at her fingers and her gaze steeled more seriously at the helmet-covered Saber.

A curtain of magic bullets rained upon the blade-wielding Servant. Saber lowered her gaze to each of the bullet and swinged her arms in a fast and precise movement while dashing. Each mana projectile sliced into two by a skillful clean cut of a machete and a kris in a clockwork's speed. Cut by cut, dice by dice, none of the movements were wasted as Saber's pace didn't stop and she finally went into near range within the silver haired Servant.

"Wha-"

"Hmph."

One! Saber didn't allow even a room for a single breath and delivered a direct slash to the silver haired side. A moan of pain came from enemy Servant briefly and turned her palm to Saber in an effort to give a counter attack.

Useless, Saber thought internally. After reading those passages, she could more or less read most of her movements and patterns. It was sort of exciting and exhilarating for the blonde haired.

Is this how her generals back then felt when they find out their enemy's patterns? How awesome. Even counter attacks weren't safe on her pattern reading.

Two! Saber guarded against the counter attack and slashed the bullet along with dealing a good chunk of damage on the silver haired woman. An azure glare met with the shadowed emerald green who was smiling beneath the darkness of her helmet.

Rachelle shivered as she felt her hair tingle against her neck. Something was wrong. Red blood irises looked towards her enemy Master and widened with both surprise and dread. Noir had summon a digital flat plane right in front of him, green streams and strings of codes surrounded him like a virtual coating around his petite body. His gaze was serious as his fingers furiously tapped away with the flat plane in front of him, followed by the rhythmical change of the codes surrounding him every two to three taps of his.

No no no that's not normal! Rachelle turned to her Servant and tried to warn her of her instincts.

"Saber, watch out!"

"Huh?"

" _C. Cast activate. Stun(10);_!"

A green bolt of data shot out from Noir's palm toward Saber who only looked with a horrified expression. With a sharp voice of pain, the bolt connected with Saber's body with a cringe inducing electric sound echoing out from it. The blonde haired girl gritted her teeth as she felt her body become rigid and paralyzed with the hacking code, green static effects crawled all throughout her limbs, her vision blurred and swimmed uncontrollably and her hands twitched involuntarily at the hilt of her blades

Tch...

"Thank you Master! Now then..."

A gleeful, sadistic smile plays at the silver haired's face as she thanked her Master. She raised an arm to the air and gradually the air thickened with a deep, royal blue mana. Magic condensed at the air, ripping the very visuals of the Arena into two. The huge power shook the arena in its core, almost knocking the red haired girl off his feet and made the paralyzed blonde haired sweat coldly at her impending doom.

" _My tongue has a breakdown and a delicate_

 _-All in a blink- fire rushes under my skin_

 _With my eyes, I see nothing and there's a roar_

 _That in my ears make."_

A recital that Rachelle could not understand in its original language, yet her ears play it in words that she can comprehend. The red haired girl looked up and saw a rift, a large tear in the space of the Arena, emanating massive amounts of magic and mana on the whole area. Searing heat frictioned at the air, sparks and glitches ripped at the surroundings as a huge figure slithered its way out of the rift in the air.

A tail? A fish's tail?

Rachelle thought as she dropped down to her knees at the overwhelming power around her. Her eyes strained to stay open and looked at the figure coming out of the rift, obviously by the control of Noir's Servant.

"Stay still and get crushed okay, Saber?"

Her grinning face sent shivers down the red haired's spine along with an intense feeling of urgency. I have to save her... I have to save Saber! Rachelle thought over and over silently in utmost emergency. Her thoughts haywired, her mind went blank with white static, what should she do?

What can I do?

 _Never... Forget..._

This voice... Again? Why now?

 _Time is... Relapsing..._

That was the last thing Rachelle heard before her consciousness was robbed away from her body.

* * *

Saber looked straight at her opponent's sickening grin and desperately tried to regain movement of her limbs. No good... I can't shrug this off before she flattens me like a pancake! Her face went pale and cold sweat dripped down beneath the shadow of her straw helmet.

Is this it? Just when my Master is finally learning...

"Goodbye, Saber!"

The silver haired woman brought her arm down in a strong motion and so did the large, royal blue figure did. Wind flowed to the side at the intense velocity the enemy Servant's skill is rushing down, the air glitched and distorted by its speed, and the whole Arena shook with its power. Saber shut her eyes down and silently prayed to the heavens, may it be for her fortunate life or imminent death.

" _Code Cast activate. Cast_defencia;"_

What? Saber widened her eyes at the sound coming from behind. That voice... No mistaking that's my Master, but how?

Suddenly, a bright flash appears in front of Saber as the tail, resembling that of a fish inched dangerously close to the blonde haired Servant's helmet. Saber clamped her eyes shut at the sudden intense light and gradually opened it back again.

No way...

Shock and bewilderment rushed throughout Saber's mind and emotions as the large figure remained stilled inches away from her head. The same shocked expression played at Noir and his Servant's faces questioning why and how the silver haired's massive magic was stopped.

"Saber."

A voice, a familiar red haired voice yet at the same time unfamiliar to her. Saber looked behind her and saw red blood irises without the usual glint inside her eyes. What happened...?

"That shield won't last long. Get out of there."

The blonde haired narrowed her eyes in suspicions and jumped back to her Master, the previous hacking spell already worn out and obsolete within her circuits. Rachelle's eyes looked straight to Noir and his Servant as the large tail slammmed to the ground, hitting no living or sentient creature in its wake. The red haired girl closed her eyes and sighed, a stern voice from her followed, completely opposite with her previous attitude.

"Saber."

"Master?"

"You have one turn. Finish this battle. "

"...Yes, Master."

Saber readied her blades once again and rushed for her enemy, pushing those suspicions into the back of her mind. Her machete and kris gleamed frigtheningly and her green irises glowed ethereally like an assassin in the dead of the night.

Whatever, I'll just ask her later.

The enemy Servant coated her hands once again with mana and parried Saber's blows with increasing difficulty. Slash by slash, hack by hack, cut by cut, she gave a wry smile as the two locked with each other. Silver and blonde contrasted as they looked into each other's faces, her azure eyes finally meeting Saber's emerald irises, and her hands shakily grasped the bare blades of her swords in order to keep it in place.

"What happened back there? Does your Master have a Mystic code that we don't know?"

Saber glared unamused in reply of her enemy's flippant smile and question. True that should be a Mystic Code no matter how you look at it but hell if Saber knows about it. She doesn't think even her Master knows about it.

"Why should I release information about that? You can't seduce me with your words, poet."

The last word dripped with some sort of shallow resent, like an annoyance to a buzzing sound.

"Oh my, such hostility. Then again you do have a point, oh well. Guess we'll just watch out for that."

"...Do what you want."

The two jumped back as they felt a force separate their lock. Saber looked upwards and felt the SE. RA. PH.'s gaze on her back watching their every moment and future actions. She sighed tiredly and tipped her helmet downwards, covering most of her face once again with its shadow.

Well... That went pretty well.

"Are you alright?"

Noir asked in concern as he brought out an ether along with a return crystal from his bag. Looks like he really cares for his Servant despite her attitude.

"I'm fine I'm fine! But Master... I can't get my poems back, what do we do?"

"Hmm... Then it can't be helped, let's just do our best by the end of the week."

"Hmhmm! Now that's my Master!"

With a bone crushing hug, the silver haired woman lifted her petite Master up in the air with minimal effort and drowned his face within those blobs of hopes and dreams residing at her chest. For some reason, this stirs up raging fire of anger within Saber's chest. No... More like raging fire of jealousy.

"Anyways, we have to go. See you next time Saber!"

A clinking sound signalled their exit as they disappeared into thin air in an instant. With raised eyebrows, Saber tipped her helmet downwards and sighed once again in fatigue.

"Nnn... Saber?"

"Master?!"

The blonde haired girl rushed to her Master's side and supported the red haired with her bandaged arms. She looked at her red irises in concern and breathe an air of relief as she once saw that familiar glint of life within her eyes.

She's back.

"Master, how are you feeling? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"N...No..."

Rachelle gasped in an extremely tired tone.

"Noir... Where are they?"

"The battle is over. Master hang in there!"

"I... See...-"

Her consciousness waned, her vision slowly turned to darkness. The last thing she saw was Saber's widened green eyes and her frantic shouting before fainting back once again into unconsciousness.

* * *

-NIGHT-

* * *

Mmm...

Light... So bright... Red tresses stirred quietly, her lithe body sunken within those comfy soft covers of the bed and her skin rubbed smoothly at its silk. A warm feeling settles at her body as she adjusted her position slightly.

Where am I...? She thought within the darkness of her eyes. She didn't want to get blinded for few seconds no matter how short it is despite how much her body is wanting to open her sight already. It's a pain to be blinded after you just woke up.

"Master, are you awake?"

Saber? She muffled that name with the sheets covering her face. I don't want to get up yet. She thought at she turned the pillow sandwiched between her arms and legs. So warm...

"...Master."

"Mmnn... What? I don't want to get up yet."

"That's fine and all, but please stop twisting my arm. It hurts."

What?

Rachelle opened her eyes slowly, letting in the white light from the room light and those emerald green light reflected by Saber's eyes. Blood red surprised irises locked with emerald green, glaring ones, both in an awkward silence as their noses were millimeters away from touching. Rachelle's lips turned comically flat as she realized the situation. D-Don't tell me...

She looked down between her hand full cups of breasts and thighs

"...!"

And screamed loudly while rolling awaaaay to the other side of the bed.

"M-Master, not so loud."

"B-B-B-But... S-S-Saber... W-What are you...?!"

"For your information, you were the one who ensnared my arm to your body when I carried you here from the Arena. Seriously Master, I could never be more thankful that we sleep in different places with that sleeping habit of yours."

Saber commented with an annoyed tone as she shook her arm to free it from the numbness. Despite having virtual bodies, everyone still feels injury may it be bad or good in the same way.

"T-Then... Saber why are you...?"

Rachelle trailed off at the end with a long pause, remembering the events that occured in the Arena. Ah right, we fought with Noir for the second time while searching information. Why do some of my memories has blanks in them though? The red haired thought to herself as she tried to recall those blanks to no avail.

"You fainted by the end of the battle that's why I had to carry you here. Honestly, I'm more of a caretaker than a Servant when it comes to you."

Oh.

"So, how are you feeling? Do you feel weird or different in some way?"

Saber asked with her eyebrows upturned with concern. She still remembered how her Master's personality changed so suddenly in the battlefield, to say she was not worried with that would be a cold hearted lie for her.

The red haired girl cocked her head to the side quizically in reply. Saber narrowed her eyes at this reaction for a moment before closing it while sighing with both relief and disappointment. Looks like she doesn't remember at all.

"Ah, I don't feel weird at all but I feel like something changed. Like, my circuits are completely in sync with the code in my coat."

Saber's eyes widened in surprise at this. Her circuits synced? So the one from before is her Mystic Code inside that coat? The blonde haired thought to herself as she watched her Master check her coat curiously. Then again if her circuits synced with the Mystic Code, I don't have to worry about her asking how to activate it.

All's well and good I guess.

"Cast_defencia; huh... I guess I could use this barrier for anything other than shielding."

And she's thinking of strategies with it, wow. Is this really my Master? For some reason, Saber can't shake off a bad feeling about the events.

"By the way Saber, how did the battle go? Did you get some new information on Noir's Servant?"

Rachelle crawled closer to Saber with her eyes sparkling in blinding interest which made the blonde haired Servant smile a little. Maybe that bad feeling was just a fluke. Saber thought as she patted her Master gingerly at the head.

"Well... From those books we got the Arena I was highly suspicious that she is a Caster since most writer personalities tend to be reincarnated as a Caster in the grail war and her fighting style of mana projectiles helps reinforce that hypothesis. However, from just seeing our battle from a while ago and that large fish tail that she summoned I could safely say that she is a Rider class instead."

=MATRIX LEVEL 3= Enemy Servant Info Obtained!

"Wait wait wait... You have two evidences for her being a Caster but you went with Rider? Why is that?" Rachelle raised her hand to the air and objected to her Servant's line of thinking.

"Well you see, its not uncommon for Riders to have descriptions of the other classes. I heard there's a Rider who fights like an Archer since she uses guns instead of blades, it wouldn't be out of place if Noir's Servant is a Rider class with Caster descriptions and stats."

Saber narrated as she grazed her chin with her fingers while remembering her own stock knowledge on the grail war.

"And besides, the strongest point of the Rider class are their Noble Phantasms so even if she fights like a Caster we can't infer anything from her style to be used against her final card. Then again, we can conclude her phantasmal beast is magic-related especially with that crushing amount of mana from just summoning its tail. The whole Noble Phantasm must be at least B or B plus rank."

A slightly not honest affirmative sound came from Rachelle as she tried to digest all those information her Servant just stated. So that skill she used was a part of her Noble Phantasm, the strongest and most defining point of a Servant in the Holy Grail War. To think that only a PART of her Noble Phantasm was that strong, how much more would it be for the real and full thing? Rachelle shuddered as she tried to imagine the power coming from the silver haired Rider if that would happen.

"I know you're worried about her Noble Phantasm, Master. However, we can put up to par with that using experience and strategy."

"Strategy?"

"To be honest, I'm quite a weak Saber compared to the others of my class so all this time I have been using decisive strikes and hits instead if you haven't noticed. You have a shield that is impregnable in one direction, I have a skill that can be used to dodge and initiate at the same time, we can do this if we time it right. Besides, the only one we need to really beat is Rider and not her Noble Phantasm. I'm pretty sure there will be a huge flaw in her defense somewhere."

Saber assured her newbie Master with a gentle look at her face. Looks like she has high hopes for her red haired Master despite her incompetence.

"I-I got it Saber! I'll work hard! Leave it to me!"

"Hah, that's the spirit. Now go to sleep, we still have a trigger to find tomorrow."

"Ehh... I just woke up."

"No complaining. Go back to sleep."

"Then then Saber! Tell me a story or sing me a lullaby to help me fall asleep!"

Saber looked at her Master with an unreadable expression and sighed to herself, defeated.

"Fine, but only one song and one story okay?"

Rachelle grinned and cheered for her Servant who only sighed once more as she calmed her Master down. My Master is a real kid, it's a pain but it's not bad.

The night falls, the curtain rises for the first act of the play.

* * *

 **Please read and review! Oh and by the way, CCC translation is currently ongoing although they're only at 10 percent for now. It's still something! And that's it for the last author's notes of this story!**


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